Pennsylvania Shotokan Karate Club’s Jared Smith qualified to compete for the Team USA senior team for a third straight year at the Pan American Championships in Curacao in May.
Smith, a Franklin Regional graduate, placed second to Tokyo Olympian Tom Scott at the Team USA trials in January in Colorado Springs.
Last October, Smith was part of the team that placed second overall at the Pan American Championships in Uruguay. He was also a member of the men’s team kumite (fighting) that won silver.
Fellow PSNK athlete Zachary Kushnir placed third in the heavyweight division at the trials and is part of the Team USA pool.
After the team trials, qualifiers went through an intense training camp led by Sensei Dustin Baldis, PSKC chief instructor and Team USA coach.
Baldis’ Jinen Kai organization placed four athletes on the senior USA Team and nine athletes who are part of either the Junior and Senior National Team that participated in the Team USA camp.
After the training camp, Jared and Riley Smith both traveled to Pamplona, Spain to compete in a Series A K1 event that drew athletes from all over the world.
Jared placed seventh and Riley 11th out of 96 athletes in each of their respective divisions.
USA Karate is the National Governing Body for Karate in the USA and is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
