November 19, 2016 (Providence, RI) - The Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (ECTC) held its third tournament of the 2016-2017 season at Brown University on Saturday, November 19, 2016. With impressive performances across the board,  356  competitors from 20 schools attended.

 

The day began with Poomsae Competition. Green Belt through Black Belt divisions were once again scored using the electronic scoring system Poomsae Pro, which provides judges with a handheld scoring device that displays real time accuracy scoring, as well as a count of major and minor deductions. This season’s extensive use of Poomsae Pro has been well-received by the league, especially its audience display that provides on-deck and current performer information, current scores, and updated competitor rankings. Gold medalists in this tournament’s competitive poomsae were Lina Sim (Brown) and Colin Chiang (Rutgers) in the White/Yellow Belt Divisions, Mei Kimura (Albany) and Matthew Turner (UVM) in the Green Belt Divisions, Sarah Evans (UVM) and Samuel Cantillo (Cornell) in the Blue Belt Divisions, Nina Anwar (MIT) and Frank Fang (MIT) in the Red Belt Divisions, and Josephine Wong (Cornell) and Michael Baek (Villanova) in the Black Belt Divisions.

 

As Poomsae Competition concluded, the day’s Sparring Competition began. Hard-fought match followed hard-fought match on the competition floor, and athletes cheered on teammates and friends from the sidelines. In the Beginner Sparring Divisions, Boston University C1 (Anastasia Nizhnik, Trisha Katz, Kelly Chhe) won the Women’s bracket, while Brown Men’s C1 (Josh Roy, Juanda Tan, Brian McCrae) took gold on their home turf. In the Intermediate Sparring Divisions, the winners were MIT Women’s B1 (Nina Anwar, Ashley Wang, Samantha Amey-Gonzalez) and West Point Men’s B1 (Will Xu, Ellis Valdez, Eli Eichenberger). Finally, Cornell emerged victorious in both the Women’s A Division (A1:Chase Upshaw, Lucy Wang, Hyunji Kim) and Men’s A Division (A1:Jared Gurba, Kyosan Ku, Jeremy Fredricks).

 

With all results in, Cornell won Division I (with 605 points), followed by MIT (242 points) and West Point (144 points), respectively. In Division II, Rutgers placed first (217 points), Brown came in second (154 points), and Boston University clinched third (145 points). The University at Albany won Division III (86 points), followed by NYU (50 points) and Northeastern University (48 points), respectively. The overall tournament winner was Cornell, followed by MIT and Rutgers University. For overall League Points, in Division I Cornell is leading with 1537 points, followed by a close race for second between MIT (643 points), West Point (520) and Tufts (483). In Division II, Brown is leading with 359, followed closely by Rutgers (321) and Boston University (258). In Division III, the University of Michigan is leading with 270 points, followed by the University at Albany (202) and Northeastern (174).

 

“The Brown Tournament stands out to me every year because the end of the semester brings countless deadlines and the dread of upcoming finals”, stated Cornell Sport Taekwondo Club President, Lucy Wang. “Yet despite hectic schedules, the number of competitors at the Brown Tournament continues to climb. The passion that the ECTC has for taekwondo is evident in this commitment to competing even in the busiest of times. After ending 2016 strong at Brown, I am excited to see how the league will continue to grow in 2017”. With the three fall tournaments complete, competitors turn their sights to the spring semester. The fourth tournament of the ECTC competition season, and the first of the new year, will be held at Princeton University on Sunday, March 5, 2017. The fifth and final ECTC tournament will be held at the University of Vermont on Saturday, April 22, 2017.