Local martial artists go national

Rockville taekwondo academy sends two to junior national team, including Potomac’s Emilia Morrow

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Each year 10 girls, ages 14-17, are named to the girls USA Junior National Taekwondo Team, one for each weight class.

On July 9, after winning gold medals in their respective weight classes at the 26th Annual USA Junior Olympic Taekwondo Championships in Atlanta, Ga., Rockville-based World Taekwondo Masters athletes Emilia Morrow (14, of Potomac) and Christina Johnson (16, of Germantown) were named to the junior national team. They’ll leave for a four-day stay at the Olympic Training Camp in Colorado Springs Tuesday before traveling to Vietnam July 21 for the World Championships, where they’ll represent the United States in a field of athletes from all over the world.

‘‘Making the national team is huge,” World Taekwondo Masters head coach Master Ramy Latchinian said. ‘‘Out of thousands of thousands of athletes, just 10 females make the team. Twenty percent of the national team is from our one little school.”

For Morrow, a longtime dream became a reality with the victory.

‘‘Ever since I started training at World Taekwondo Masters I would see all the bigger girls go to nationals and get so close to getting on the team and I would always be like, ‘That is where I want to be when I’m that age,’” said Morrow, who’ll be a freshman at Wootton High in Rockville next fall. ‘‘I remember in sixth grade when my teachers asked us to write where we wanted to be [in the future], I wrote that I wanted to be in the World Taekwondo Championships. It’s been my goal for so long. Now that I’ve accomplished this I can focus on bigger goals, like winning a medal at Worlds or getting on the senior national team. ... Out of all the people in the nation, I get to go and represent the country. Everyone will be looking at us to do a good job. We get to represent our country and that is pretty exciting.”

Not only did Morrow and Johnson — who’s already spent a year on the national team but had to qualify again by defending her 2005 national title — win their weight classes, they dominated them. If a competitor is winning by seven points the match is called. Johnson, competing in the middleweight class for athletes under 139 pounds, and Morrow, in the featherweight class for those under 108 pounds, point-gapped three of their four opponents.

‘‘I am extremely proud of them for their performances and results,” Latchinian said. ‘‘It can’t really be described in words. They displayed confidence, presence and maturity. They stuck to their games, despite the pressures of being the favorites. It is easy to choke in that situation but they performed well. ... Christina dominated her division. She just destroyed it. The thing about Emilia is she had the toughest draw, in my opinion. Every match was against a good player. I wanted her to make the national team with a statement. And she did.”

What makes Morrow’s title even more impressive, is she just turned 14 last week. In her first competition in the 14-17 age group, she dominated the field, which included seasoned athletes who’d been competing at that level for four years. And that says a lot for her future in the sport.

‘‘Emilia, she just turned 14 the day before the tournament,” Latchinian said. ‘‘For her to win on her very first try, that is a great accomplishment. It takes a lot of maturity. Some of these girls in her division are 17 and have been in the division for four years. There is a big difference in the physical development of a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old. But it didn’t phase her. Her performance, especially given the draw she had, really impressed me. ... I think Christina and Emilia are just stronger than most of their opponents. We have been working toward this for a quite a while. We do a lot more scouting. We had the preparation, training and the skills. They just had to perform and they did.”

Johnson and Morrow upped their training schedule in the last few months. They spent more than 19 hours a week perfecting their fighting skills, doing plyometrics and conditioning through running and swimming. But it paid off. The four days at the Olympic Training Camp certainly won’t provide any time to rest. The girls are tired. But that is a sacrifice they’re willing to make.

‘‘I am tired,” Morrow said. ‘‘But I’ve done all this already. As soon as I made the team I thought, ‘Oh goodness, now I’m going to Colorado and I don’t know what to expect there.’ I’m sure it will be hard. But I’m sure I’m well prepared. I’ve only trained with my coach before. This will give me the opportunity to train with new people that I’m not used to working with. I’ll build whole new relationships. ... I’ve been to international competitions before so I know what to expect at Worlds. I think I can do a good job. It’s just very exciting.”