USA Fencing

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Focus, experience … and the strategically timed intake of sugar. For Jenna Shoman (Manhattan Fencing Center), that turned out to be a winning formula on the second day day of the 2023 National Championships and July Challenge, also known as Summer Nationals.

Shoman, also the 2023 Junior Women’s Saber national champion, says focusing on her fencing instead of the score has made the difference.

“In previous tournaments, I focused on the score, which really messed me up throughout the bout,” she says. “It was really important for me to just focus on my fencing, and that ended up working really well.”

Another key, Shoman says, was the experience she gained earlier in the season by earning individual bronze at the 2023 Junior and Cadet World Championships and competing at her first senior World Cup.

“Coming back from that, it kind of put me in a zone,” she says of the senior World Cup. “I was struggling a little bit and letting one touch get to me. Looking back I think I'm a lot stronger.”

Shoman’s gold medal was one of 95 gold medals to be awarded over 10 days in Phoenix, including 66 national champions.

Shoman says she owes a lot of her success to Coach Sergey Isayenko, but he was quick to put the praise back on her.

“I'm always proud of Jenna regardless — through ups and downs, but today she fenced with composure,” he says. “I'm very happy for a long day, but it was fruitful, and it was well worth it.”

At 344 fencers, the Junior Men’s Foil competition in Phoenix was the tournament’s second-largest event (Sunday’s Junior Men’s Epee competition has 405 fencers registered).

That was just one of the hurdles standing in the way for Andrew Chen (Bluegrass Fencers' Club) on his way to gold in the event. The other: Like Shoman, Chen had just completed a successful trip to Bulgaria for the 2023 Junior and Cadet World Championships, where he was part of the team that took home gold for Team USA.

“It was a really great experience,” he says. “It exposed me to a lot of top-level fencers. I feel like fencing at the World Championship is just eye-opening for me. It really helped me improve my fencing.”

By relying on his strong remise, Chen says he tried to treat Summer Nationals like any other NAC and not let the size of the field or the target on his back distract him.

“I just fenced my best,” he says. “And we’re here.”

Day 2 also saw the start of senior team events, where fencers from any club and country can form four-person teams for a chance at gold.

In Senior Team Women’s Foil, the quartet from Golden State Fencing Academy — Sabrina Cho, Chin-Yi Kong, Shuang Li and Yukari Takamizawa — took home the top honors.

One of the most beloved parts of the team event is, naturally, the team aspect. The noise volume gets raised as teammates celebrate each touch all the way to 45.

“We’re very encouraging to each other,” Li says. “During the bout, we cheer for each other, and we try to come up with new solutions for each other on the spot.”

Kong agrees, saying teammates provide critical support through the inevitable ups and downs.

“If they're doing well, or if they're not doing well, no matter what, we’re yelling encouragement,” she says. “One of our favorites today was, ‘keep it up!’ We’re just always cheering them on, yelling, just making sure they're having a good time.”

Division I Men’s Saber

Gold: Konstantin Lokhanov OLY (Spartak)

Silver: William Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center / Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Khalil Thompson OLY (Peter Westbrook Foundation / Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Darii Lukashenko (Manhattan Fencing Center)

5th: Jordan Silberzweig (Manhattan Fencing Center)

6th: Robert Wang (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club / Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester))

7th: Tony Escueta (Globus Fencing Academy / Boston Fencing Club)

8th: Lev BenAvram (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation / National Capital Fencers Club)

 

Senior Team Women’s Foil

Gold: Golden State Fencing Academy (Sabrina Cho, Chin-Yi Kong, Shuang Li and Yukari Takamizawa)

Silver: 4Fun (Victoria Lin, Yiyang Liu, Aileen Mi and Aprille Song)

Bronze: Just Fence (Kimberley Jang, Aurora Kokes, Nina Markovsky and Anice Orvañanos)

 

Senior Team Men’s Epee

Gold: AFM-1 (Sergey Bida, Adam Chirashnya, Daniel Chirashnya and Benjamin Kim)

Silver: Penta (Christopher Chong, Daniil Mazur, Gary North and Ian Park)

Bronze: NYAC (Stephen Ewart Jr., Ryan Griffiths, Ariel (Ari) Simmons and Justin Yoo)

 

Junior Women’s Epee

Gold: Julia Yin (Vango Toronto Fencing Center / Canada)

Silver: Sarah Gu (Medeo Fencing Club)

Bronze: Michaela Joyce (University of Notre Dame NCAA / Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

Bronze: Tierna Oxenreider (Columbia University NCAA)

5th: Jiahe (Heidi) Ding (China)

6th: Sophia Jakel (DC Fencers Club)

7th: Leehi Machulsky (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

8th: Faith Park (DC Fencers Club)

 

Junior Women’s Saber

Gold: Jenna Shoman (Manhattan Fencing Center)

Silver: Charmaine Andres (Southern California Fencing Academy (SOCALFA))

Bronze: Gabriela Hwang (Phoenix Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Audrey Lin (Globus Fencing Academy)

5th: Kaitlyn Pak (Manhattan Fencing Center)

6th: Angelina LeLe Yang (Laguna Fencing Center)

7th: Madeline Engelman-Sanz (Bergen Fencing Club)

8th: Keira D-Sallows (Boston Fencing Club)

 

Junior Men’s Foil

Gold: Andrew Chen (Bluegrass Fencers' Club)

Silver: Ethan Augustine (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy / University Of Notre Dame NCAA)

Bronze: Jeidus Deseranno (Renaissance Fencing Club)

Bronze: Roy Graham (Jovanovic Fencing)

5th: Ziyuan Chen (Golden State Fencing Academy / University Of Notre Dame NCAA)

6th: Luao Yang (Renaissance Fencing Club)

7th: Jacob Lee (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

8th: Caleb Jeon (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

 

See the complete results on Fencing Time.

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