Mackenzie Schultz, a student at Enterprise High School, will represent the United States in a judo competition at the Junior and Cadet Pan American / Oceania Championships in Brazil. She qualified for the event by winning the IJF Junior Female under 78KG classification during the Youth National Championships. This will be her first time competing at the Pan Am Games.
DAVID MUNDEE Enterprise High School ’s Mackenzie Schultz is set to represent the United States , her city and her high school in a judo competition at the Junior and Cadet Pan American / Oceania Championships in Brazil in less than two weeks.
The junior at EHS qualified for the international event by winning IJF Junior Female under 78KG classification for those 17-21 years old during the Youth National Championships in Atlanta in late March. It’s the second straight year she has won a national title, but this will be first time she will compete at the Pan Am Games. Her competition is set for April 22-23. She couldn’t make the trip last year because of a passport issue. She has that cleared up this year. “It is great,” Schultz said. “I couldn’t go to Croatia the last time so I am glad I am able to make it this time for the Pan Am in Brazil.” People are also reading… In her upcoming meet in Brazil, Schultz will compete for the USA team against judo competitors from other countries, including Canada, Croatia and host Brazil. “This is bigger compared to what I have done before,” Schultz said. “This is a new experience for me. My coach just wants me to go down there to get the experience. He wants me to try and win, but it is mainly to see where I am at and where I stand with these people.” While gaining experience at an international meet is part of the plan, she has some goals she wants to accomplish as well. “I want to place – that is my goal, to at least place.” said Schultz, referring to a top-three finish at the meet.“I want to get a lot more of my throws in because when I do judo I usually rely more on a my ground game because they are hard to throw,” Schultz said. “I am still working on them. So my goal is to at least throw some people and not get thrown in the first round.”“My next door neighbor did karate and I thought it was really cool, so I started karate for about a year,” Schultz said. “There is a gym in Enterprise called the Immortal that had jitsu, so I started doing that and I really liked it. After class, they had a judo program. My friend did it and I did it with her and I also really liked it. So I would do those back-and-forth a lot of times.” Her interest continued to increase in the sport, leading her to train in gyms in Atlanta and Panama City. Her home gym now is in Dothan – Modern Warriors Combatives, though she also trains a lot with Emerald Coast Jitsu in Panama City. “Modern Warriors is more of my technique and learning how to do things whereas Emerald Coast is my competitive gym,” Schultz said. “When I go there, I train for competition and bigger tournaments.” Her training last year in judo paid off as she earned a No. 1 ranking for IJF Junior Female in the 78KG division. Three years ago, Schultz added high school wrestling to her list of sporting activities. She has gone undefeated in two seasons for the Enterprise Wildcat girls wrestling team and has won two individual state titles. “I like wrestling, but it would probably go jitsu, judo and wrestling,” Schultz said when asked her favorite. “Wrestling is like my school sport and the other are my outside-school sports.”“I have been doing it longer and it is more fun for me because I am more confident in it,” Schultz said. “In jitsu and judo, you can go to your back and in wrestling you can’t. A lot of my game is based off jitsu and judo more than wrestling.” During her qualifying meet in Atlanta, Schultz competed in two divisions. In addition to the minus 78KG classification, she also competed in the under 70KG division . “I got a new bracket and it was minus 70,” Schultz said. “It was more like me testing the waters for a different bracket. I felt decent in that. I wasn’t expecting to get first place or win straight off the bat. Minus 78 is typically where I am at and I was pretty confident going in there, but not getting over my head . I had to be careful with what I was doing, but I was pretty confident.” In her under 70KG 14-17 age division, she lost her opening match, but rebounded with four straight wins, avenging her loss in the process, to finish in third place. In the under 78KG competition, she was in a three-person bracket and won both of her matches to earn her trip to the Pan Am Games.
Enterprise High School Mackenzie Schultz Judo Competition Junior And Cadet Pan American / Oceania Champions Brazil United States Youth National Championships Pan Am Games
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A charter school could rise in the former Hallahan High School building in Center CityHallahan was the first all-girls Catholic high school, founded in 1911 by Mary Hallahan McMichan.
Read more »
High schools to high majors: Final Four includes 3 coaches with roots in high schoolMontgomery, Alabama
Read more »
High schools to high majors: Final Four includes 3 coaches with roots in high schoolAlabama coach Nate Oats had become comfortable coaching at Romulus High School outside of Detroit. His desire to take any Division I college coaching job waned through the years before he got an opportunity on Bobby Hurley's staff at Buffalo.
Read more »
Boys & Girls Club of the Wiregrass-Enterprise Receives Donation from LPC EnterpriseThe Boys & Girls Club of the Wiregrass-Enterprise has received a generous donation from the Luncheon Pilot of Club of Enterprise. The donation will support the club's ongoing service to children in the area, providing them with a safe and constructive environment.
Read more »
Enterprise High School Band to perform in national paradeThe band has been preparing for moments like this. And now they are ready to take their talents to the national stage.
Read more »