Three Olympians Highlight Senior Pan Am Team
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by Bill Kellick
(Colorado Springs, CO) – Eighteen athletes, including three of the four Olympic Team athletes from the Paris 2024 Games, have been named to the U.S. team that will travel to Panama, for the 2026 Senior Pan American Championships, April 18-20. Panama City will welcome 208 athletes from 23 nations competing at the Centro de Convenciones Vasco Nuñez en el Hotel Panamá.
Paris 2024 Olympians Maria Laborde (Kenosha, Wis. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center), John Jayne (Chicago, Ill.) and Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, N.J. / NYAC / Cranford JKC) will be representing the U.S. in Panama City. Laborde, 35, is ranked #8 in the world at 48 kg and has won five medals at the Senior Pan Am Championships, including a gold medal in 2014 while representing her native Cuba, and a silver medal in last year's competition.
Jayne, 28, is a four-time medalist at the event, winning bronze in 2022, 2023 and 2025, and earning a silver in 2024. Yonezuka is ranked #10 in the world at 73 kg and will be making his fourth Senior Pan Am appearance at just 22 years of age and is the reigning champion at the event.
Other returning Senior Pan Am medalists include 21-year-old Dominic Rodriguez (Fort Myers, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) who won gold in 2022 as a 17-year-old, Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo), 24, who won silver last year and also owns bronze medals from 2022 and 2024, 27-year-old Ari Berliner (Cumming, Ga. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) who notched a bronze medal in 2022, and 18-year-old Jonathan Yang (Los Angeles, Calif. / NYAC / USA Judo National Resident Team) who captured a bronze medal in his Senior Pan Am debut last year.
Alexander Knauf (Yorkville, Ill. / NYAC), 24, and Melissa Myers (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center), 30, will be making their fourth Senior Pan Am Championships appearances, while Johan Silot (Salem, Mass. / NYAC / Pedro's Judo Center), 23, Noran Elmahroukey (New Providence, N.J. / NYAC / Colton Brown Training Center), 23, and 19-year-old Emily Jaspe (Hialeah, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) will all be competing in their second consecutive Senior Pan Ams.
Six first-timers complete the U.S. roster in Panama City, including 28-year-old Malia Soberano (Aiea, Hawaii), 26-year-old Toni Pepia (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Colton Brown Training Center), 21-year-old Alex Semenenko (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Generation Judo Club), 20-year-old Chris Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-itsu-sai National Training Center), 22-year-old Karlee Carrouth (Oklahoma City, Okla. / NYAC / USA Stars) and 30-year-old Gusmary Garcia Savigne (Claymont, Del. / El Idrissi Judo Academy).
Competition schedule is as follows:
Saturday, April 18
Men’s 60 kg, 66 kg, 73 kg
Women’s 63 kg, 70 kg, 78 kg, +78 kg
Sunday, April 19
Men’s 81 kg, 90 kg, 100 kg, +100 kg
Women’s 48 kg, 52 kg, 57 kg
Monday, April 20
Mixed Teams
The complete athlete roster is as follows:
Women’s 48 kg
Maria Laborde (Kenosha, Wis. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
Men’s 60 kg
Jonathan Yang (Los Angeles, Calif. / NYAC / USA Judo National Resident Team)
Chris Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-itsu-sai National Training Center)
Women’s 52 kg
Toni Pepia (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Colton Brown Training Center)
Malia Soberano (Aiea, Hawaii)
Men’s 66 kg
Ari Berliner (Cumming, Ga. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center)
Women’s 57 kg
Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo)
Noran Elmahroukey (New Providence, N.J. / NYAC / Colton Brown Training Center)
Men’s 73 kg
Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, N.J. / NYAC / Cranford JKC)
Women’s 63 kg
Karlee Carrouth (Oklahoma City, Okla. / NYAC / USA Stars)
Emily Jaspe (Hialeah, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
Men’s 81 kg
Johan Silot (Salem, Mass. / NYAC / Pedro's Judo Center)
Dominic Rodriguez (Fort Myers, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
Women’s 70 kg
Melissa Myers (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center)
Men’s 90 kg
Alexander Knauf (Yorkville, Ill. / NYAC)
John Jayne (Chicago, Ill.)
Women’s +78 kg
Gusmary Garcia Savigne (Claymont, Del. / El Idrissi Judo Academy)
Men’s +100 kg
Alex Semenenko (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Generation Judo Club)
