Heart and Soul Muay Thai sent four of its athletes to Florida to compete in the IKF World Classic Tournament from Aug. 3 to 5, one of the largest and longest-running tournaments in the U.S.
Kaitlynn Jorgensen, Morgan Holling, Brenna Jardine, Marlene Noel along with the head coach Sandra Bastian and assistant coach Chris Fair attended from Campbell River.
None of these athletes had ever been to an event so large. They have all been training under Kru Sandra for almost two years now. Holling, the first to compete from the team, fought against the eventual tournament winner, who had three times the number of fights and had trained for nine years while Holling has just over a year. While Holling lost the fight, he made huge improvements.
Noel has been training for less than a year and gave it her all in Florida, going up against someone who had more experience and she held her own. She ended with a bronze.
Our third fighter on Saturday was Jorgensen, who controlled the bout from the opening to the final bell. She was calm, confident and it showed. With her win, she fought for the belt the next day. In the final, she came up short but won silver.
Jardine, a 15-year-old junior who trains every night with the adults, has been training under Kru Sandra for the past two years. She was fighting at a catch weight against girl she who weighed in at 150 lbs, compared with Jardine’s 144 lbs fully clothed. For juniors, they both displayed a lot of heart. Brenna lost that fight but too came home with a silver medal.
The new gym for Heart and Soul Muay Thai opens in the fall and is welcoming new members.
