Three Old Town-Orono YMCA Tae Kwon Do students are headed to compete internationally after qualifying recently for the WCMA/TMSA Cancun Open Martial Arts Championships that will take place in January 2019.

The three competed and placed in their respective age groups at the Kicks USA Nationals in Gardiner, Maine during a May competition and now will begin working toward raising funds to attend the worldwide competition.

Caitlyn Moeykens, 13, of Orono, took home first place in sparring and second place in forms. Her younger brother, Connor Moeykens, 9, placed first place in sparring. And Mikhail Prostatin, 7, of Old Town, took home first place in sparring and fourth place in forms.

The Cancun Open Martial Arts Championships will allow the students to compete internationally against other amateur students as they represent the Old Town-Orono YMCA’s program, which has grown rapidly since starting last fall.

The program currently has 19 students, many of whom are competing around the state. Tristan Creeley, Tae Kwon Do blackbelt and Old Town-Orono YMCA coach, teaches multiple sessions, open to both boys and girls, offering semi-private lessons and sparring lessons to students of all ages from age 6 to 64, in addition to regular programming and the Y’s Tae Kwon Do Team.

For more information, call the Old Town-Orono YMCA at 827-9622.