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Vernon taekwondo team wins big in Burnaby

46 Okanagan athletes brought home 76 medals
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Kai McLean launches a sidekick at clubmate Jayden Li in the junior boys black belt sparring final. (Contributed)

It was a barrage to the podium for Vernon’s Sundance taekowndo team, who racked up 76 medals at the BC Championship for the International Taekwondo Federation’s tournament on March 4.

The Championships featured nearly 200 competitors from 11 B.C. based teams.

The Sundance team sent 42 competitors, whose total medal count was 25 gold, 22 silver and 29 Bronze.

Black belt competitors had a strong showing, medaling in nearly all categories. In the Junior Male 15-17 division, Jayden Li dominated with gold medals in sparring, patterns and special technique (flying kicks), and silver in power (board) breaking; while teammate Jamie Froland achieved gold in power breaking, silver in special technique, and bronze in both sparring and patterns.

Brothers Kai and Cruz McLean each worked hard for silver in patterns, with Kai also taking silver in sparring and bronze in power breaking. Jack Sharkey took bronze in Pre-Junior Male 12-14 patterns. In the Junior Female black belt division, Renee Smith saw gold in power breaking, silver in sparring, and bronze in patterns, while Shelby Richard took the podium for silver in power breaking and bronze in both patterns and sparring.

Colour Belt competitors did not disappoint with each bringing home at least one medal. In a nail biting series of matches, Taryn Froland persevered to win silver in female red-black stripe 12-13 sparring, also obtaining a gold medal in her patterns division.

Beckham Bongalis, Rylee McFarlane, Jason Nigha, Olta Pajaziti, Jed Maleniza and Erion Tahiri brought home gold in both sparring and patterns categories. Makenzie Gussman, Rowen Gussman and Adrian Maliqi each took silver in both of their patterns and sparring categories. Kameron Beardsell, Robynn Chapple, Matt Curwen, Michael Dunlop,Dwayne Gussman and Jacob Mueller, brought home bronze in both patterns and sparring in their respective age and belt categories.

Other performances of note included Ailyn McDonagh winning a sparring gold in junior boys green belt while Alexander Mulder took the gold in the yellow belt category.

“It’s incredible to see all of our athletes and families travel and support each other in their competitive endeavors,” said head coach David White. “Although taekwondo is an individual sport, it is also the club and team environment that helps us train and gives us the confidence boost to achieve our goals.”

Sundance will host the ITF Canadian National Championships on May 6 and 7 at Kal Tire Place in Vernon, with support from many amazing local businesses. Admission is free for spectators for two full, jam-packed days of excellent competition.

This event is expected to attract around 500 entrants from across Canada with black belts competing for a chance to be selected to represent the Canadian National Team in Finland in September 2023.

The club is currently looking for sponsors. Those who would like more information about taekwondo can go to sundancemartialarts.com or call 250-306-2285.

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Bowen Assman

About the Author: Bowen Assman

I joined The Morning Star team in January 2023 as a reporter. Before that, I spent 10 months covering sports in Kelowna.
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