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PINE TREE STATE KARATE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Freeport ME By R.J. Bishop
MASTER JEFF WEAGLEY recently hosted the 4th Annual Pine Tree State Karate Championships
at the Freeport High School in the beautiful scenic Freeport, ME. Freeport, a favorite tourist
attraction in Maine, has the east coast’s best outlet shopping. Freeport is the home of the world
famous L.L. Bean Retail Store.
The Pine Tree State Karate Championship
was given an "A" rating by the
S.M.A.R.T. rating
organization, and Two Star rating from
IPPONE. Over 200 competitors from all over New
England and Mexico attended this wonderful event.
This tournament has really improved over the last four years, MASTER WEAGLEY and his staff
have done a wonderful job with this tournament. This year MASTER WEAGLEY
added Musical Kata to the program and it was very successful. He had four Musical Kata divisions and over 50
competitors competing. Next year MASTER WEAGLEY
may have a Musical Grand Championship. Sadly, only four of the eight
S.M.A.R.T.
rated tournaments carry Musical divisions. Hopefully, more Promoters will come to realize that Musical divisions are getting more popular and it will
attract MORE competitors to their Tournaments.
The Tournament started on time with the Brunswick Naval Air Station Color Guard’s presentation
of the colors, and the vocal quartet the, Maine Street Serenade, sang the National Anthem. The
Musical and Weapons division were next to go followed by Kata and Kumite.
Beautiful trophies were given for 1st-4th places and Medals were given to the other Jr.
competitors that did not place. The Grand Championship trophies were magnificent- some of the
nicest I have ever seen. All Grand Champions not only got one of those beautiful trophies, but
also a gift certificate to L.L. Bean.
I saw a lot of new competitors , especially in the Under belt divisions. One little girl, NICOLE
GUIMOND (an Orange Belt from Club Naha), really impressed me as she won the Novice Kata
Grand Championship- she is a rising star. Also in attendance was SHIHAN JAVIER DIAZ and his
son JAVIER DIAZ JR, both from Mexico. The Diaz’s have come to live in Waterville, ME and
teach at Club Naha. Welcome to Maine and the USA.
Congratulations to VU’s Tae Kwon Do of Sanford, Maine. They won the Best Supporting School
Award and brought home a beautiful Trophy/Cup.
Well, we had a great time and we look forward to going back next year. Congratulations to
MASTER JEFF WEAGLEY and his staff for a job well done. Overall, I give the
PINE TREE STATE KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS a "TWO THUMBS" rating, my highest rating.
MASTER WEAGLEY would like to thank Ms. WANDA DANIELE for all her hard work
coordinating this great tournament, and to the Arbitrator BRENT CRISCI for keeping things
running smoothly.
The GRAND CHAMPIONS were
17 & UNDER NOVICE KATA: Nicole Guimond
17 & UNDER INTERMEDIATE KATA: Meagan Forsythe
17 & UNDER ADVANCED KATA: Andy Nortrup
MEN & WOMEN NOVICE KATA: Kelly Pillsbury
MEN & WOMEN INTERMEDIATE KATA: Kevin Veilleux
MEN & WOMEN ADVANCED KATA: Mark Anderson
MEN BLACK BELT KATA: T.J. Mitchell
WOMEN BLACK BELT KATA: Sue Sonia
17 & UNDER BLACK BELT KATA: Shane Gallagher
MEN BLACK BELT KUMITE: Herbert Lewis
WOMEN BLACK BELT KUMITE: Jayme Ladd
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