Ryan Drum of Charlottetown has earned a berth on the national junior kickboxing team.
Drum earn a spot on the team after scoring a lopsided victory at the Canada Cup selection event in Burlington, Ont., on the weekend.
She will travel with the team to the world amateur kickboxing championships in Serbia in September.
Drum, a member of Team P.E.I. Kickboxing Club, scored a second-round TKO vicory over Channel Villeneuve of the Nomad club in Ottawa in the under-48 kilogram (low kick) division.
Although happy with the victory, Drum wasn't happy with her performance.
"I know I can perform at a higher level and execute my game plan better than I did against Channel, so it's back to more hard training at the club for me," said Drum, who is a 17-year-old national champion.
Her coach, Barry Ogg, chuckled at Drum's comment.
"Ryan was sick all week and was in the middle of her exams so she was constantly studying on the plane and in the hotel, but as I said before, she doesn't make excuses," said Ogg. "She just strives to get better every time out."
The Canada Cup event featured fighters from 17 Council of Amateur Sport Kickboxing (CASK) clubs from four different provinces.
After a late night at the Canada Cup event, there was very little sleep for the young champion.
Ogg and Drum were on the go at 6 a.m. the next day to make a 7:30 a.m. training session at the Bay Area Athletic Club in Burlington, which is the club owned by CASK president and five-time world professional champion Muzammal Nawaz.
"Maz wanted Ryan to work out with his elite team of athletes and she got a lot of useful tips to work on during the gruelling two-hour session," said Ogg.
Drum will be back in Ontario for another national team training camp in late July before heading to the world championships.
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