(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) and Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each advanced to the table of 32 at the Tauberbischofsheim Foil World Cup in Germany on Saturday.
Competing in her first Senior World Cup of the season, Kiefer was exempt from preliminary competition as the #6-ranked athlete in the world.
Kiefer led from the start in her bout against Sandra Kleinberger (AUT) and took the win, 15-10, in the table of 64.
In her next bout, Beijing Olympian Malgorzata Wojtkowiak (POL) defeated Kiefer, 15-9. The loss left Kiefer with a 17th place finish.
Prescod, who also was exempt due to her 16th ranking in the world, finished 20th after a 15-5 win in the table of 64 over Monica Peterson (CAN) and a 15-7 loss to Julia Biryukova (RUS), a sixth-place finisher at the 2009 Senior World Championships.
Emily Cross (New York City, N.Y.), a silver medalist in the team event at the Beijing Games, drew two-time Senior World medalist Hyun-Hee Nam (KOR) in the table of 64 and lost the bout, 15-8. Nam, the #3-ranked fencer in the world, went on to win bronze and Cross finished 62nd.
On Sunday, Kiefer and Prescod fenced in the team event with Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.) and Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.)
Anchored by Prescod, the foursome defeated Ukraine, 43-30, in the table of 16.
In the quarter-finals, Team USA struggled against a Korean team that included Nam as well as 2009 Senior World medalist Hee-Sook Jeon.
Although Kiefer, as anchor, outscored Nam, 10-8, the Koreans held on for a 45-36 win.
In the 5th – 8th place table, the team of Ross, Kiefer and Prescod trailed Germany, 40-35, going into the final bout between Kiefer and Katja Waechter, a top-eight finisher at the Beijing Games.
Kiefer won her bout against Waechter, 6-5, but Germany took the match, 45-41.
Fencing for seventh place, Team USA was down against France, 30-16, after the first six bouts.
Prescod outscored 2011 Junior World medalist Ysora Thibus, 4-2, in the seventh bout and Kiefer closed the gap to eight touches when she scored 11 touches to Astrid Guyart’s seven.
Anchoring for the first time in the tournament, Ross went up against Corinne Maitrejean, a sixth-place finisher at the 2011 Senior Worlds.
With France leading the match, 39-31, at the start of the bout, Ross earned six touches, but Maitrejean closed out the match for a 45-37 win.
Top eight and U.S. results for the individual event are as follows:
Tauberbischofsheim Individual Foil World Cup
1. Elisa Di Francisca (ITA)
2. Valentina Vezzali (ITA)
3. Hyun Hee Nam (KOR)
3. Arianna Errigo (ITA)
5. Corinne Maitrejean (FRA)
6. Ha Na Oh (KOR)
7. Martina Batini (ITA)
8. Katja Waechter (GER)
17. Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)
20. Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
62. Emily Cross (New York City, N.Y.)
65. Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.)
66. Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.)
86. Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.)
Top eight results for the event are as follows:
Tauberbischofsheim Team Foil World Cup
1. Italy
2. Russia
3. Poland
4. Korea
5. Hungary
6. Germany
7. France
8. USA
Tag(s): News Lee Kiefer Nzingha Prescod
