Two Ponte Vedra Beach girls, Jessie Miller and Lilly Sonn, are currently atop the Florida rankings in ATA Taekwondo after collectively winning 18 medals during a recent marathon of weekend tournaments.
To achieve their success, the 11-year-old local black belts traveled a total of 10,000 miles to five cities across the U.S. during the opening six weeks of the karate season. As a result of their success, they both earned placement in their divisions as the world’s top ten medalists.
The next major event for the girls will be Fall Nationals in Orlando Oct. 16-18. The Tournament of Champions will be held July 8-14, 2019, in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the 50th Anniversary of ATA’s World Expo of Martial Arts.
Miller and Sonn train at the Karate America dojang located in Ponte Vedra Beach that is owned by Grand Master William Clark and operated by seventh-degree black belt Master Daniel Gimenez, sixth-degree world champion Amber Smith and fifth-degree black belt Justin Escarra.
Both girls are assistant instructors and have previously won state and district regional championships. They are also honor roll students, active in their churches and have been featured nationally as “Leadership Kids” in ATA World Magazine.
