Team BC judo athletes impressed at the recent Canadian Judo Championships held in Quebec.

Alumni of the 2015 Canada Winter Games (CWG) included:

First Name	Last Name	Club	2015 CWG Result	2015 Nationals
Vanessa	Kruger	Nanaimo	5th
Grace	Northrop	Hart (Prince George)	5th	3rd - U18 & U21
Cheyenne	Fiandor	Nanaimo	5th
Lavanna	Laass	Hart (Prince George)	Silver	3rd U21 & Senior
Kristen	Yawney	Prince George	5th
Megan	Hanks	Aberdeen (Kamloops)	Bronze	2nd - U21
Kelsey	Painter	Campbell River	Silver	1st - U16
Leo	Goldberg	Abbotsford	Bronze
Greg	Laslo	Abbotsford	5th
Ario	Nishimura	Steveston (Richmond)	Silver	3rd U18 & Senior
Daniel	Henry	Campbell River	9th
Braxton	Clark	Nanaimo	Bronze	3rd U21 & Senior
Tavis	Jamieson	Steveston (Richmond)	Silver	1st U21, 3rd Senior
Jeff	Swadden	Abbotsford	Bronze

In addition, the 14  athletes named to Team BC for the Western Canada Summer Games competed including Canada Winter Games alumni Kelsey Painter and Ario Nishimura noted above.  In addition,  Lisa Russell earned a silver medal in the -52 category and Tristan Alexander a silver medal in the 90 category.

Judo BC News Release, April 19, 2015
Another successful Championship for BC with 5 Gold, 6 Silver and 12 Bronze medals.

Leading the podium rush was Paul Whishaw of Burnaby Judo Club with Gold in Masters – 66kg. Kelsey Painter of Campbell River Judo and Ian Ryder of Steveston Judo Club (Richmond) followed up with Gold medals in the U16 division. Tavis Jamieson reached the top of the podium in U21 -100 kg and placed 3rd in the Senior -100 kg division. On the final day of competition Andriy Romanov of the Burnaby Judo Club matched his Elite 8 Nationals Gold medal
with another at this Nationals in the Senior -100 kg category.

Double medal winners included Paul Whishaw (Burnaby) who received a Silver medal in Nage no Kata with his partner John Morris of the Port Coquitlam Judo Club. Morris also received a Bronze medal in Katame no kata with his partner Rick Blanchard (Port Coquitlam).

2015 Canada Winter Games Silver medalists Lavanna Laass (Hart Judo Academy – Prince George) and Ario Nishimura (Steveston Judo Club – Richmond) each received 2 Bronze medals, Lavanna in U21 & Senior, Ario in U18 & U21. Grace Northrop (Hart Judo Academy – Prince George) who placed 5th at the 2015 Canada Winter Games also walked away with 2 Bronze medals, U18 & U21.

Bruce Kamstra, Judo BC Provincial Head Coach, said: "I am pleased with the performance of our athletes at the 2015 Canadian Judo Championships in Quebec. We’ve had an amazing year including the 9 medals at the 2015 Canada Winter Games”

Sandy Kent, Judo BC President, said: “This past weekend was a great demonstration of Judo prowess by our athletes. It was great to watch so many excellent competitors over the 4 days of competition and see BC on the podium so many times. The fact that many of our medals come from younger athletes and several also medaled in the next age division speaks to the athlete development program and bodes well for the future. I was also very impressed by one of our older Judoka, Paul Whishaw, who medaled in the Kata Group, then won Gold in the Veterans competition and went on to referee for the rest of the weekend! Judo BC is lucky to have such a dedicated and well-rounded individual. Also, a big thank you to the organizing committee who did an outstanding job of setting up and running the tournament. The quality of production was very high and has raised the bar for future tournaments. All in all it was a job very well done.”