October 2025 NAC, Day 2 Recap: Focus, Foundations and Double Golds in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — With a perfect record coming out of pools — and a plus-24 indicator — Maia Chamberlain OLY (Manhattan Fencing Center) looked every bit the experienced contender.

But in the lightning-fast world of saber, even the slightest lapse in focus can erase a high seed in an instant. Chamberlain says her key was consistency — and calm. No opponent scored more than 11 touches against her all day.

“Everything fencing wise felt really smooth,” she says. “What was working was my preparation step. I was able to stay pretty disciplined and carry that throughout the whole day.”

Chamberlain’s steady approach earned her the Division I Women’s Saber title — one of seven gold medals awarded on Saturday, the second day of the October 2025 North American Cup in Salt Lake City.

After representing Team USA at last season’s Senior World Championships as the nation’s top-ranked women’s saber fencer, Chamberlain says her focus this season is on rebuilding her foundation.

“I want to work on my foundation, work on my fitness," she says. "Last season, I wanted to just get my bearings a little bit, and this year I'm gonna put the work in.”

That same focus on fundamentals is guiding Samuel Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy), who captured gold in Division I Men’s Epee. Imrek spent the summer training — and giving back — by helping at his club’s camps.

“It was a lot of fun — just recharging, still fencing a little bit, keeping everything going,” he says. “The summer was really chill, and it's great to be back here. So excited to start this new season.”

Imrek, who finished the 2024–25 senior season ranked No. 7 in the world, enters this campaign with his sights set even higher.

“I just want to do as well as I can in the international competitions,” he says. “The biggest goal here is the World Championships, of course, and trying to get the gold medal and get my international ranking as high as possible.”

Meanwhile, parafencing standout Garrett Schoonover PLY (Valkyrie Fencing Club) wasn’t satisfied with just one gold medal in Salt Lake City. After winning Parafencing Men’s Epee on Friday, he returned Saturday to take gold again — this time in Parafencing Men’s Foil.

Switching between weapons from one day to the next requires both physical and mental agility. Schoonover says a small but smart adjustment helped him make the transition smoothly.

“During the Paris [Paralympic] cycle, I noticed that I had a hard time differentiating between a foil game and an epee game,” he says. “And I joke that I have a goldfish brain, so I need physical cues to remind me of what I'm doing. So I switched to a French grip for epee, which has served my epee game much better. It allows me to immediately pick up the weapon and feel, ‘ah, this is the game I'm playing right now.’”

Joining Schoonover in the double-gold club was Jataya Taylor PLY (Denver Fencing Center & Invictus Fencing), who followed her Friday Parafencing Women’s Epee title with gold in Parafencing Women’s Foil on Saturday. Like many parafencers who compete in multiple weapons, Taylor says switching between the two can be tricky — but practice and perspective help.

“So it's funny, it doesn't actually always switch, but I do practice foil more, and foil applies more to epee than epee to foil, so I make less mistakes,” she says.

When off-target lights or tough bouts threaten to rattle her rhythm, Taylor channels her calm — with a little inspiration from one of her training partners.

“I channel my inner Scott Rodgers [PLY],” she says. “And so whether it's off target or not, I have to find my calm. And he has really drilled that into me.”

Taylor, who has been fencing left-handed since returning from injury, says this weekend’s success is about more than medals — it’s about progress.

“Yeah, the medals are nice, but it was more me getting to apply what I've been learning since I've been back to fencing left handed,” she says. “So it's more to show that I can actually apply the new things I have learned.”

From discipline to double golds, Day 2 of the October NAC showed how focus and fine-tuning can turn preparation into podiums.