Six local taekwondo students took home eight gold medals last month at the Iowa State Championship.

Five of those students train at Jeong’s Taekwondo Martial Arts, an academy at 11800 Quivira Rd. in Overland Park. Jaeho Jeong, who goes by Master James when he coaches the class, said he was proud of his students for their hard work and dedication in their poomsae, a form of defense-and-attack taekwondo.

“Their accomplishment, it was just amazing,” Jeong said. “To be honest, I expected that they were going to place at this competition at Iowa State because they trained really hard with me every day, like two hours a day. I’m so proud of them.”

Additionally, the students won two silver medals and a bronze medal in other competitions at the championship, which took place Feb. 23 in Des Moines.

Here is a list of each student’s record from last month:

• Hunter Procter, black belt, Olathe South High School: 2 gold medals in individual poomsae and pair poomsae
• Jackson Merry, black belt, The Cardiff School (private): 2 gold medals, one each in individual poomsae and sparring
• Livia Viall, black belt, Liberty View Elementary: 1 gold medal in individual poomsae, and 1 silver medal in sparring
• Cooper Kinnune, black belt, Brighton Academy: 1 bronze medal in individual poomsae
• Alex Oude Alink, black belt, Parkhill High School: 2 gold medals in individual poomsae and pair poomsae
• Sana Reddy, red belt, Aubry Bend Middle School: 1 gold medal in individual poomsae and 1 silver medal in sparring

Jeong’s students plan to attend the Kansas State Championship later this month. If the students win accolades from their state championship, then they will qualify for national competition in July.