| Westwood Karate instructor Brett Morgan braces for a high kick to the side of the head from student Larry Salazar. Morgan, along with fellow instructor Kevin Jewkes and Sensei Mike Martinez, said they always encourage students to wear the proper helmets and pads when taking lessons./small> |
On July 16 and 17, local karate students travelled to Ogden for the 2004 EKL National X at the Ogden Marriott grand ballroom.
Every student placed in the competition that included participants from several surrounding states.
The students’ Sensei, Mike Martinez, said karate students from the Carbon County area can compete with anyone in the state and the results of the tournament show that the quality of area students is as high as anywhere.
“They did well. We’re real proud of them,” he commented.
Two students, Cheylee Montgomery and Larry Salazar, are seeded first in state and regionals. Both Montgomery and Salazar are brown belts.
Results of the EKL tournament are as follows:
Cheylee Montgomery, brown belt, 1st in sparring, 3rd in kata; Larry Salazar, brown belt, 3rd in sparring, 1st in kata; Megan Dayley, purple belt, 4th in sparring, 4th in kata; Jasiah Salazar, purple belt, 2nd in sparring, 2nd in kata; Andrew Gomez, blue belt, 4th in sparring, 3rd in kata; Brandon Gomez, blue belt, 3rd in kata; and Nathan Gomez, white belt, 3rd in sparring.