‘It was awesome,’ said Orillia’s McKenna Van Allen, who fought to two division titles at national event for the third time in her storied kickboxing career
Orillia’s ‘Tiger Girl’ cannot be tamed.
For the third time in her distinguished career, McKenna ‘Tiger Girl’ Van Allen won two different divisions at the national kick-boxing championship.
Van Allen captured a gold medal in Sunday’s K1 division of the WAKO Canadian National Kickboxing Championships. The KI division is a full contact division of kickboxing that includes knees, clinches, sweeps and catching kicks.
She had earlier captured the title in the Low Kick division on Friday; that is also full contact but includes only “pure striking.”
There were three competitors in each division. Van Allen earned a bye into the gold-medal match thanks to her level of experience, said coach Nic Langman.
“This was an outstanding performance that proves she’s one of Canada’s top fighters in her weight class,” said Langman.
“It was awesome,” Van Allen said. “I love competing, and it’s even better when you get to fight more than once over the weekend.”
The highly decorated local athlete, who won a bronze medal at the Pan-American Kickboxing Championship in 2024, was pleased with her results.
“There’s always room to improve, but overall I’m happy with my performance,” said the nominee for Orillia’s Athlete of the Year for 2024. “Nic and the team at Black Lotus prepared me very well, so all I had to do was stick to the game plan.”
The event was held at the International Convention Centre in Mississauga April 30-May 2.