(Providence, RI) - The 2017 fall semester concluded on November 19 at Brown University with 457 athletes, another record-setting event for the host school, hailing from 29 universities.  

 

The morning held intense Poomsae competition in all divisions. Three current and former national poomsae team members Edward Jeong (University of Bridgeport), Andrew Hurd (Northeastern), and Shemual Tsai (Brown University) in the men’s black belt division captured gold, silver, and bronze, respectively, showing the depth of the division. Rounding out the group is Dennis Kim (University of Michigan). Cornell’s Liana Gonsalves broke through to capture gold in the Women’s black belt division after earning silver at both prior tournaments. In the red belt divisions, Nina Anwar from MIT secured her third straight gold of the season while Cornell’s Samuel Cantillo took it for the men’s division. Caleb Oh (Cornell) and Katherine Chen (Rutgers) had another repeat performance, claiming the blue belt division for two tournaments in a row. This is Chen’s third straight gold as well. Juanda Tan (Brown) and Sophia Chan (NYU) are newcomers to the top of the podium this season in the green belt division. Finally, Cornell’s Yun Jin Woo and Rachel Brotherton swept the white/yellow belt division.

 

A relative newcomer to the advanced (A-Teams) sparring scene, men’s University of Bridgeport A1 had a memorable showing, meeting up with League veterans West Point A1. Team Captain Patrick Hall recounts his experience, “Competing in the finals [and]....having been a one man team in the league ever since I started, it was awesome to be able to fight all the way to the end. The team atmosphere was also a new experience for me and my teammates but definitely a positive one. It added a whole new element to the matches which all three of us embraced and ended up being our favorite part of the whole experience.”Despite a valiant performance, Bridgeport fell short earning silver in their first tournament with a full 3-man team. UCONN A1 and Cornell A1 earned bronze. On the women’s side, Cornell A1 earned their first gold of the season after earning silver at MIT and missing the podium stand at Brown. University of Michigan A1 earned silver while Cornell A2 and West Point A2 came home with bronze.

 

In the intermediate (B-Teams) division, Cornell B1, for the second tournament in a row, earned gold. Buffalo B1 improved their performance from last tournament by earning silver. Rounding out the medalists are Cornell B3 and and Columbia B1. In the women’s B-Team division, MIT B1 and Cornell B1 had another showdown but this time, MIT B1 came out on top. MIT B2 and Tufts B1 captured bronze.

 

Finally in the novice (C-Teams) division, our largest of the tournament with 32 teams in the men’s division and 36 teams in the women’s division, eight teams eventually came out on top. Men’s and Women’s MIT C1 swept the novice division with their stellar performances against Men’s Tufts C1 and Women’s Michigan C1. Men’s West Point C1 and NYU C1 alongside Women’s Cornell C1 and Brown C1 fought four tough rounds to capture bronze.
 

The 4th ECTC tournament be hosted on February 25 at Princeton University followed by the National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships at American University from April 6-8. The 5th and final tournament of the season will be held at the University of Vermont on April 21.

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