QUERETARO, Mexico (June 10, 2016) -- In the final international competition before they compete in Rio, Olympians Paige McPherson, Jackie Galloway and Stephen Lambdin led a 24-medal performance by U.S. athletes at the Pan American Senior Kyorugi & Poomsae Championships held Wednesday and Thursday in Queretaro, Mexico. McPherson captured gold in the female welterweight (-67kg) division, while Galloway and Lambdin won silver medals in the female heavyweight (+73kg) and male heavyweight (+87kg) division, respectively. The U.S. (2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze) finished second in the team standings for sparring behind host Mexico who led the way with 14 total medals (7 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze).
Also reaching the podium for sparring were female lightweight gold medalist Amanda Bluford (pictured above), male lightweight silver medalist Thomas Rahimi, female finweight bronze medalist Kelsey Junious, female flyweight bronze medalist Monique Rodriguez, female middleweight bronze medalist Madelynn Gorman-Shore and male flyweight bronze medalist Logan Gerick.
McPherson won three straight matches to take the welterweight gold. She defeated Venezuela's Adanys Cordero, 3-0, and Yosselyn Molina of Honduras, 5-3, to reach the final where she posted a 7-3 victory over Katharine Dumar of Colombia.
Bluford also needed three victories to take the lightweight title. She scored a 7-0 win over Danielle Gay of the United States, followed by a 12-6 win over Canada's Ashley Kraayeveld and a 10-4 triumph over Mexico's Melissa Oviedo.
Galloway scored a 6-2 win over Argentina's Paula Wegscheider and won by withdrawal against Keyla Avila of Honduras before losing a 6-1 decision to Katherine Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic.
In men's heavyweight competition, Lambdin defeated Ecuador's Jesus Perea Tarira, 6-2, and Canada's Marc Andre Bergeron, 2-1, before bowing out to Cuba's Rafael Castillo in the final.
Rahimi beat Canada's Andrew Leitold, 5-3, and Argentina's Jorge Alvarez, 3-1, to reach the finals of the male lightweight division, but lost a 5-3 decision to Mexico's Miguel Radillo.
Junious earned the female finweight bronze medal by defeating Colombia's Luz Jeimy Cardenas, 5-4, before losing 5-0 to Venezuela's Virginia Dellan in the semifinals.
In female flyweight action, Rodriguez scored a 9-7 win over USA's Shelby Bourgeois, but lost 9-1 to Mexico's Itzel Manjarrez in the semifinals to claim a bronze medal.
Gorman-Shore won bronze in the female middleweight class by defeating Canada's Nathalie Iliesco, 6-5, to reach the semifinals. There she lost to Brazil's Raphaella Galacho, 4-1.
Gerick took bronze in the men's flyweight division with wins over Peru's Luis Oblitas (7-5) and Canada's Gao Richard (9-2), before dropping a 15-3 decision to eventual gold medalist Carlos Navarro of Mexico.
The poomsae competition was held concurrently with the sparring competition during the two-day event, and the U.S. team finished second to host Mexico with 15 total medals (5 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze). Individuals, pairs and teams winning medals in a very competitive field were:
Thoa Nguyen, Gold, 41-50 Female Individual
Joseph Bennett, Gold, 61+ Male Individual
Elva Adams, Kathy Do, Thoa Nguyen, Gold, 31+ Female Team
Kwangjin Ha, Jason Hwang, Justin Wang, Gold 31+ Male Team
Kwangjin Ha, Gold, 31-40 Male Individual
Sebastian Choi, Silver, 18-30 Male Individual
Elva Pai Adams, Silver, 41-50 Female Individual
Chris Hillyer, Jennifer Glagola, Silver, 31+ Pairs
Justin Wang, Silver, 31-40 Male Individual
Kathy Do, Silver, 31-40 Female Individual
Thu Doolittle, Silver, 51-60 Female Individual
Michelle Chen, Carissa Fu, Miyako Yerick, Silver, 18-30 Female Team
Amanda Rosbarsky, Bronze, 31-40 Female Individual
Dave Chan, Carissa Fu, Bronze, 18-30 Pairs
Carissa Fu, Bronze, 18-30 Female Individual
Congratulations to all Team USA medalists!
