Look up and down the USA National Collegiate Taekwondo Team roster for the 2026 FISU America Games and you’ll find something no other American squad in Lima can match: Cornell and Brown next to UCLA and Utah, next to Menlo College, next to Tacoma Community College. One team, the full breadth of American college sports.
The Games run July 20 through August 1 in Lima, Peru, and the U.S. brings depth in both taekwondo disciplines.
Poomsae: UC San Diego Is the Anchor
In poomsae (forms), one program does the heavy lifting. UC San Diego supplies:
- Female A-Team: Sharon Lee, Kate Feng, Alyx Wikarsa
- Female Pair: Kathleen Adhinatha, Sneha Aravind
- Male Pair: Anderson Lai, Achintya Rai
That’s seven Tritons across three team events, a footprint that defines the program.
The individual entries round out the discipline: Sung Hyun Eric Gun (Rutgers) in men’s poomsae, Bomin Kim (Duke) in women’s, and freestyle specialists Yuri Kim (UC Merced) and Landon Her (UC Irvine). In mixed pairs, Allison DeGuzman (Cal State Fullerton) teams with Gian Legaspi (Bakersfield College), while Kaitlyn Reclusado (Menlo College) joins Gun in the freestyle pair, making the Rutgers standout a double duty entry.
Gyorugi: 26 Fighters, Every Weight Class Covered
The sparring squad runs the full spectrum, from -54kg to +87kg:
Men: Arian Canete (UCLA, -54kg); Melvy Alvarez (UConn) and Prahchomvong Thay (Fresno State) at -58kg; Donovan James Eugenio (Washington) and Cole Noretto (Seattle U) at -63kg; Justin Fredricks (SUNY Old Westbury) and Jordan Panotes (South Puget Sound CC) at -68kg; Celso Chua (Fresno State) and Noah Shanafelt (Kent State) at -74kg; Barron Mosteller (Diablo Valley College) and Devin Cornell (Fresno State) at -80kg; Marvin Cardona Lopez (Tacoma CC) and William Smith (UCLA) at -87kg; Nicholas Carlo (Menlo College) and Abou Sow (UMBC) at +87kg.
Women: David Yehe-Nara (UConn Stamford, -46kg); Maggie Shiba (Utah) and Monique Villasenor (San Antonio College) at -49kg; Gaia Castillo (UC Riverside) and Audrey Kohlman (Cornell) at -53kg; Caitlyn Cox (San Antonio College) and Grace Shiba (Weber State) at -57kg; Christina Chimal (UC Riverside) and Kayla Shanahan (Stony Brook) at -62kg; Chloe Chua (Fresno State) at -67kg; Sydney Merrill (Brown) at -73kg.
Storylines to Watch
- The Fresno State factor. Four Bulldog fighters (Thay, both Chuas, Cornell) make up the biggest sparring contingent of any school, with siblings Celso and Chloe Chua both in the mix.
- The Shiba sisters. Maggie (Utah, -49kg) and Grace (Weber State, -57kg) give the squad a family storyline across two weight classes.
- Kent State doubles up. Noah Shanafelt at -74kg joins decathlete Ayden Bath in giving the Golden Flashes two Team USA athletes in Lima.
- The community college pipeline. San Antonio College, Diablo Valley, Tacoma CC, South Puget Sound CC, Bakersfield College: five two year schools on a national team. Almost nowhere else in college sports does that happen.
The NIL Angle: The Most Underexposed Athletes in America
Taekwondo athletes might be the single most underexposed group on any Team USA roster. No TV package, no conference media deal, no built in audience. Just years of training and a shot at a flag on their chest. For fighters coming from community colleges and small programs, fan backing isn’t a bonus; it’s often the difference in affording the training and travel that gets them to a stage like Lima at all.
That also means these are the athletes where a fan’s support moves the needle most, and where getting in before a medal run means everything.
The Games run through August 1. We’ll recap the U.S. medal haul when the team comes home.
