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Pan Am Games Team Finalized Following Second Day of Trials

January 7, 2007

The roster for the 2007 Pan American Games Taekwondo Team was rounded out Sunday following the second day of trials at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Qualifying for the team on Sunday were Tony Graf (Peak Performance USA, Miami, Fla.), Lauren Cahoon (Peak Performance USA, Miami, Fla.), James Moontasri (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Nia Abdallah (Houston, Texas).

They will join women's fin/flyweight Charlotte Craig (Murrieta, Calif), men's bantam/featherweight Terrence Jennings (Alexandria, Va.), women's bantam/featherweight Danielle Holmquist (Peak Performance USA, Coral Springs, Fla.) and men's fin/flyweight Tim Thackrey (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) who qualified on Saturday by defeating James Howe (Peak Performance USA, Miami Fla.) in the finals. The eight athletes will be nominated to the U.S. Olympic Committee for final approval.

Holmquist went unscathed in four matches to win the women's bantam/feather division. She posted victories over Alysha Gerry (Zoar, Ohio), Adriel Gray (Libery, Ind.), Natalie Aguilar (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Gray again in the final match.

Today was the best I have felt in a long time," said Holmquist. "I felt confident. Mentally I was all there." "In the third round of my second fight, I was behind in the match but made a comeback. I didn't rush things. I was fortunate to have enough time to make the comeback and was patient."

Graf went undefeated on Sunday in the men's middle/heavyweight division, winning four consecutive matches in the double-elimination event. He defeated Jason McEuin (San Francisco, Calif.), Josh Coleman (Winston-Salem, N.C.), Stephen Lambdin (Colleyville, Texas) and McEuin again in the final match to win the event.

"I trained and mentally I saw this moment in my head 1,000 times," said Graf. "For me the turning point today was staying focused. I didn't let up my focus and I noticed that when my competitors lost their focus I could move in and try to score. Overall, I try not to let myself get to caught up or look at things too far in advance because if I do I could end up with a foot in my face."

Cahoon also reeled off four straight wins to claim the women's middle/heavyweight spot, defeating Dalia Avivi (Peak Performance USA, Davie, Fla.), Christina Park (New York, N.Y.), Lynda Laurin (McAllen, Texas) and Avivi a second time in the last match.

"Today's competition was interesting because I had to compete against my training partner, Dalia Avivi," Cahoon said. "She is a vital part of my training program and we work really hard together. I also train and work a lot with Tony Graf, which is an incredible help."