Karate Club in Alaska to compete in national championships

Six members of the Karate Club are traveling with their faculty adviser, Dr. JD Swanson, to compete in the 36th annual International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) national championships Sept. 5-7 in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Salve Regina contingent includes Madeline Berry ’15, Sean Flanagan ’14, Michelle Gregoire ’16, Gianna Gualtieri ’15, Jessica Lovell ’15 and Sarah Valenti ’17. They will compete against athletes representing colleges and universities throughout the country, including Brown, Bucknell, Cornell, Drexel, Lycoming, Penn, Penn State, Temple, Thomas Jefferson, UMass-Amherst, Rochester, Virginia, West Chester and William & Mary.

Karate at Salve Regina is a registered club sport affiliated to the ISKF under Master Teruyuki Okazaki. Swanson, a Class Dean and associate professor of biology and biomedical sciences, is a licensed ISKF instructor, examiner and judge.

The team practices weekly in the dance studio in the Antone Academic Center and travels throughout the Northeast participating in the East Coast Collegiate Karate Union. In addition, Swanson has brought in guest teachers such as Master Teruyuki Okazaki, founder of the International Shotokan Karate Federation.