Posted on: Friday, July 30, 2004
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD ATHLETES
U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame inducts Calpito
Advertiser Staff
| • | Disabled paddlers eager to show their mettle |
| • | Hawai'i Polo Club faces Italian National team |
Waialua's Ronald Calpito, 52, a long-time martial arts instructor, will be inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame tomorrow in Nashville, Tenn.
Born and raised in Hawai'i, Calpito is a seventh-degree black belt in Ken Ka Bo, a martial arts style that combines kenpo, karate and Chinese boxing.
"I think it's a really a great honor, coming from Hawai'i and being taught the art from my stepfather (Sid Asuncion, grandmaster and founder of Ken Ka Bo)," said Calpito, who has trained continuously for 30 years.
To enter the Hall of Fame, honorees have to be nominated and then inducted.
"I'm kind of overwhelmed that someone even nominated me," said Calpito, a training instructor at Pearl Harbor. "I'm way out here in Hawai'i."
Vercruyssen earns medals on the run
Nani Vercruyssen's incredible summer adventure continued with age-group medals in back-to-back events recently.
Vercruyssen, 12, Hawai'i's only elite trampolinist, won gold on Double Mini-Tramp and silver on Trampoline as a member of the U.S. International Team at the IndoPacific Championships in Kelowna, British Columbia.
More than 400 trampoline national champions from nine countries competed in age group events from July 15 to 19.
Right after, Vercruyssen "flew from Canada to Florida, got off the plane and competed" in the Pan American Trampoline-Tumbling Championships, said her father, Max.
Vercruyssen earned bronze in Synchronized Trampoline in the meet from July 20 to 22.
"They're calling her the postman because, under the worst conditions, she always delivers," Max said.
The traveling won't stop.
Vercruyssen, who earned a silver at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Nashville, Tenn. in June, will next travel to the Japanese Junior (Elite) Championships in Yamagata, Japan, Aug. 2 to 9, and to a Russian Competition in Belarus and Moscow in November.
'Aiea's Moniz wins trampoline nationals 'Aiea High junior Matt Moniz, 17, won Double-Mini Trampoline title at the USA Gymnastics Tumbling Junior Olympic National Championships in Tampa, Fla.
Moniz, a level 10 performer, also took fourth in tumbling and fifth in trampoline during the July 13 to 19 event.
He was one of 13 Hawai'i athletes to place in the competition.
The others:
• Keisha Padello, 10, finished fourth on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 10), 14th on trampoline (Level 10), and 45th on tumbling (Level 8).
• Kelsen Onigama, 9, finished fourth on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 10), fifth on Tumbling (Level 8), and sixth on Trampoline (Level 10). • Drew McPhillips, 13, finished sixth on Trampoline (Level 10), 11th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 10), and 11th on Tumbling (Level 9).
• Whitney Toyoda, 8, finished sixth on Trampoline (Level 5), 17th on Tumbling (Level 5), and 24th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 5). • Christina Laguens, 10, finished 21st on Tumbling (Level 5), 26th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 7), and 30th on Trampoline (Level 6). • Julia Ruggieri, 10, finished 10th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 6) and 42nd on Trampoline (Level 7). • Kristin Koss, 12, finished 31st on Tumbling (Level 5), 32nd on Trampoline (Level 7), and 35th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 7). • Rory McPhillips, 9, finished 12th on Trampoline (Level 9), 16th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 8), and 27th on Tumbling (Level 8). • Kathleen McPhillips, 11, finished 28th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 9), 33rd on Trampoline (Level 9), and 38th on Tumbling (Level 8). • Brianna Lovett, 13, finished seventh on Trampoline (Level 8) and 17th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 8). • Tiare Bolongan, 14, finished 16th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 8) and 30th on Trampoline (Level 9). • Laneika Tagavilla, 16, finished 18th on Double Mini-Tramp (Level 8) and 42nd on Trampoline (Level 9).
TRAMPOLINE-TUMBLING
