In her field of three at the B.C. Judo Championships, Marcia Paget was the underdog.

The two other girls fighting in her U13 weight class were both at higher grades than the 11 year-old Invermere judoka, who has her yellow-orange belt and has been practicing the martial art for four years.

Of her opponents, one was an orange belt, while the other was a green belt — a full two levels higher.

But while Paget admits to a few nerves before her first provincial fight, once the competition began she “was totally dominant,” according to her coach Hermann Mauthner.

“It was her technique, actually,” says Mauthner. “She did really well, had good balance. The other girl always attacked on the left side and she absolutely held her off. She actually used really good techniques.”

Mauthner says the provincials, held in Abbotsford, aren’t always attended by competitors from the local judo club, so to have Paget go and win is very special for the club.

Paget says her fights were “really fun, because I’d never fought those two people that I fought before, so I got to watch their techniques for what they were doing.”

Winning, she adds, “felt really good, because there was a whole bunch of people there that I could have fought.”