Release date: May 19, 2008
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Emory Grad Headed to Judo Olympic Trials

After his May 12 graduation, Emory University senior Ross MacBaisey is headed to Las Vegas to place all bets on a trip to China -- to the Olympics, that is.

MacBaisey is going to Nevada to compete in the Olympic trials for judo June 14, which, if successful, means a spot on the Olympic judo team. In the Olympic trials for judo, the top competitors in each of the seven weight classes will win the coveted spots. MacBaisey is ranked fifth in the nation in his weight class and has pursued the sport since he was a child.

While in school, MacBaisey, a business major, trained six days a week, five hours a day, working out at the Woodruff P.E. Center gym and practicing judo at a "couple of good dojo clubs" he found in the area when he came to Emory from his hometown of San Diego. He headed to Boston after graduation to continue training in the weeks before the Olympic trials.

In March, MacBaisey competed in the senior nationals for judo in Virginia Beach. He came in third overall in the nationals, and that led to the invitation to Las Vegas. He's won the collegiate nationals the last two years as Emory's one-person judo team.

"My dad signed me up for judo when I was 7 years old," MacBaisey said, and he's been at it every year since. "In high school, I tried out for the Olympic trials but didn't make the cut," he said, so "I decided to put college first."

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate experience, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. Perennially ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report, Emory encompasses nine academic divisions as well as the Carlos Museum, The Carter Center, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, Georgia’s largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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