Marlborough, MASS. –
Collegiate Taekwondo athletes from the Centennial State made a loud impression Friday at the Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA where the 2025 National Collegiate Taekwondo Association Championships kicked off.
Three teams from the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, and University of Northern Colorado stepped on the mats Friday morning, medaling in all three major categories of the day: Poomsae, demonstrations, and board breaking.
CU Boulder’s Demonstration Team picked up a silver medal for their first catch of the day; the team’s third consecutive medal over the last three years.
“It feels pretty good, we always come back with something new,” Demonstration Coach Kaliyah Saunders told Colorado MA News. “Every year, more and more people come up to us… literally this girl came up to us and was like ‘I’m your biggest fan, I was waiting for your demo this year.’ It just makes me see how I can push the envelope even more.”
Another first for the CU team was when Gabriela Gallelli took bronze in Poomsae for her demonstration of Taegeuk 3, making her the first female color belt athlete to medal in the club’s history.
“At first, I was kind of shocked… I didn’t really believe that I got it, but I was really happy about it” Gallelli said.
Another bronze was awarded to CU’s Summer Levin, a Freshman at Boulder, for her breaking demonstration Friday afternoon.
Colorado’s smaller clubs shined brightly, too.
University of Denver head coach Sean Jung said two pairs of Poomsae athletes, Taylor Kazan and Mitchell Norsen, as well as Annie Rodes and Carter Norsen, advanced to semi finals.
Rhodes and Carter Nrosen, finished 6th in semis out of 32 pairs.
Kazan and Mitchell Norsen finished 13th out of 32 pairs.
Talia Mehaignerie, A junior at the University of Denver, told us she was flabbergasted when she placed third in Poomsae for Taegeuk 3, in a bracket of more than 30 athletes.
“Looking at everyone else from the beginning, I thought they were doing amazing,” Mehaignerie said when asked about the competition, “I had absolutely no expectation that I could compete at that level… obviously, I was super proud of myself.”
She also noted it’s hard to balance student-life and being an athlete. “It’s just mostly a lot of scheduling… it’s just a balancing act.”
Among the 700 student athletes at the NCTA Championships this year, many are gearing up for Saturday’s sparring competition.
CU Head Coach Ivan Pagan fired up the buffs for a weekend of fighting, telling us they’re ready for the fight.
“I’m super pumped… we’ve been working hard, everybody knows we’re coming. We’re here.”
Sparring for all belts, and high school athletes, will start on Saturday at 9:00AM EST.
On Sunday, teams gear up for the new 3V3 sparring competition.
Jesse Hughes is the Editor-in-Chief of ColoradoMANews.com
He can be reached at his email: jchughes93@gmail.com