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Judoka off to junior worlds
By Tom Berridge, Burnaby Now sports
Burnaby Judo Club's Jocelyn McGrandle will be going to the junior world championships for the first time.
The 17-year-old Fraser Valley resident was named an alternate to the Canadian team last year, but will be making the trip to Budapest, Hungary in October.
Recently nationally carded, McGrandle fought one of the world's best at a Pan American judo competition in Venezuela last month, where she won one of three bouts, which included a defeat to world No. 2 Anna Hernandez of Cuba.
"She destroyed me," McGrandle said. "But it's pretty good, we're getting a lot of experience and _ learning what it takes to be tops in the world."
McGrandle also picked up the silver medal at the recent Canadian senior championships, losing in the final to Katherine Roberge of Quebec.
McGrandle will attend McGill University in the fall, working towards a future degree in law.
She will also continue her commitment to judo and a goal of the Olympics in 2008.
"I'm getting closer to medalling at the junior worlds," McGrandle said, adding her parents and Burnaby coach Rene‚ Hock, a former Olympic-level athlete, have helped make it happen.
"She (Hock) knows how to get there."
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