Local Athlete Takes Top Honors In National Karate Competition

John McCarthyPosted oninAt VIFreep, Breaking News, Community Affairs, National News, Sports News, St. Thomas News

ATLANTIC CITY — A St. Thomas athlete took some top honors at a national martial arts competition held in New Jersey over Memorial Day weekend.

Rashell Machuca, of Charlotte Amalie, had to make a choice between going to a karate competition or a softball showcase. The choice was a difficult one, but Machuca seems to have chosen wisely.

Machuca stood out in the karate competition at the National Martial Arts Championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey this past weekend.

Rashell went on to place first in sparring and took third place in forms.

Congratulations to Rashell Machuca, a multi-sport athlete, for making the U.S. Virgin Islands proud!

SOURCE: Livewire Sports

John McCarthy

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.