A total of 22 athletes represented the Pennsylvania Shotokan Karate Club at the USA National Karate-do Federation's regional qualifier in Charleston, W.Va on Feb 9.

All of the athletes will be eligible to compete at the national competition, to be held this July in Houston.

The club finished with a total of 35 medals from the regional event, including 19 golds, among the various age groups and disciplines. The club also captured eight silver and eight bronze medals in Charleston.

Individually, a handful of standouts captured gold in both kata (moves performed in a set pattern) and kumite (point fighting). Jake Verrilli, Ziah Baldis, Jessica Leveille, Bianca Terente, Clifford Krey and Tia Leary all claimed double gold at the regional competition.

Other PSKC athletes to claim medals last month and qualify for nationals were David Lipton, Sammy Botta, Michael Cox, Blake Cordes, Elio Dapos, Camron Deiss, Dimitri Gary, Pavel Grebenyuk, Geoffrey Magin, Tim Lynch, Carrington Motley, Jared Smith, Riley Smith, Samantha Kelly, Zachary Kelly and Eric Nelson.

The PSKC's group of 22 will be part of an estimated 3,500 athletes from across the country to compete in Houston.

The USA National Karate-do Federation is the governing body of the sport in this country, as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee.