Erica Paccione takes Silver in Harnes, France

Two local athletes, Erica and Christina Paccione, who train at Kodokan Judo of Cape Coral, flew to France for the Harnes International Judo Competition.

The sisters were among 6 other Americans that competed.  Each athlete was number one in their age and weight division in the USA.  The tournament divisions were very large ranging from 9 to 50 in one division.  On day one our American Team took home a gold, silver and a bronze medal.

Jackson Butler was undefeated in the 50kg division taking home the Gold.  

Erica Paccione fought in a 17 person, -52kg division and won multiple matches by ippon (full point) with one win was under 12 seconds.  She proudly took home the Silver medal along with a gift of an Adidas sports bag. 

Mariah Holguin took home the Bronze.  

Christina Paccione (11), fought up in age and weight. Her opponents had a 17 pound advantage and were one to two years older and she still managed to score some great throws but ultimately did not make it to the finals. 

A few members of the USA Team traveled the next weekend to Lanester, France to compete and rose to the podium to collect their medals:  Misato Sandoval - Gold, Rachel Butler - Silver and Jackson Butler - Bronze.