U.S. Women started off their portion of the Junior World Championships in fine fashion on Thursday in Macon, France. They posted a combined record of 8-4 and have two medals to show for it.

Kayla Miracle (59kg/IN) and Alexis Porter (67kg/NY) both captured World Bronze in their final year as Juniors.

48KG - McKayla Campbell, Ohio

Campbell, who is still Cadet-eligible, was a 5th placer in last year’s Cadet Worlds. She’ll start her tournament with 2015 Cadet Bronze winner Marina Zakshevskaya of Kazakhstan. The quarters will present a huge test as Campbell will be faced with 2x Champ, 3x medalist Miho Igarashi (JPN). The winner there is a likely finalist.

Watch McKayla’s 2015 Cadet Bronze match:

55KG - Ronna Heaton, South Dakota

The Cadet World Champion will start an attempt at a Junior run with Belarussian Laura Charashvili. She was a Cadet finalist in 2013 but placed just 16th and 15th in her last two World Championships. Next up will likely be Tinglin Pan, this year’s Asian Champion. In the quarters be Italy’s Patrizia Liuzzi, a 5th place finisher in Brazil last year.

Watch Ronna’s 2015 World title bout:

63KG - Maya Nelson, Colorado

Making her World debut, Nelson resides in the bottom bracket with a first round match against Zarina Dauletkeldi, who also is in her first World Championships.The quarters will likely bring her Ayana Gempei (JPN), who despite winning the Asian Championships three times, has never been to Worlds.
The only World medalist in the entire bottom bracket is Russia’s Bronze from last year, Maria Kuznetzova.

72KG - Rachel Watters, Iowa

Rachel opens up with France’s Pauline LeCarpentier, who was 5th at Cadet Worlds in 2014. Her next opponent will be a formidable one. Zhamila Bakbergenova (KAZ) was a Bronze medalist in both Juniors and Cadets and placed 5th in this year’s Yarygin.The favorite to reach the semifinals from the other quarter is Japan’s Masako Furuichi, the 5x World Champion (2 in Juniors, 3 in Cadets).