Summer Nationals Reaches Halfway Point in Atlanta
ATLANTA, Ga. – Six individual Division One national champions are crowned at US Fencing Summer National Championships at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga., July 4-13. Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) has become the sixth and final champ, winning the Division One Women’s Foil title over Nicole Ross (New York, N.Y.) in Thursday’s final, 15-7.
“I feel great, wonderful,” Lu said. “I honestly did not expect this, no, definitely not.”
It was the second 2010 national championship for Lu. She was the anchor of the gold medal-winning Empire United fencing team that won the Under 19 Women’s Foil Team competition on Monday. After fencing four events in five days, Lu can now rest and reflect on an amazing week.
“Today, I was just really sharp, really on,” Lu said. “It was my fourth day of competing, so I’m really warmed up and tired, but ready to go. And I feel like I was really on today, really sharp, just got en garde for every point.”
Lu’s signature yell could be heard around the venue. Her passion for the sport was evident to all that watched her fence.
“I just love the sport,” Lu said. “I love the combination of the physical aspect, the mental aspect, the fun, the joy, being with your friends, making a wonderful touch, preparing for it. Your work pays off, it feels really good.”
Also winning her second national championship on Thursday was Lian Osier (Battle Ground, Wash.). Osier and her team, Oregon Fencing Alliance, won the Under 19 Women’s Saber Team title, Osier, Diamond Wheeler, Elizabeth Rapp and Kirstin Hee (Vancouver, Wash.) defeated Bergen Fencing Club, led by Celina Merza (Wayne, N.J.) in the final, 45-35.
“It feels pretty good and I think that it feels even better that we did it as a team,” Hee said.
Oregon Fencing Alliance showed that the Portland-based club continues to produce winners after two-time Olympic gold medalist Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.). The four saber fencers painted their faces for the event.
“It was actually our teammates Lian and Diamond’s idea to have our club colors and ‘OFA’ painted on our face,” Hee said. “Nobody does it so we thought it would be fun.”
The competition takes place in Hall B5 of the Georgia World Congress Center and is free and open to the public. The latest results from women’s foil can be found at http://usfencing.org/events/3963/page/9734.
Eight more national championship titles will be awarded on Friday. Follow the live Tweeting online at www.twitter.com/usfencing.
About U.S. Fencing Association: The United States Fencing Association (USFA) is the recognized NGB for the sport of fencing in the United States. The USFA was founded in 1891 as the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) by a group of New York fencers seeking independence from the Amateur Athletic Union. The AFLA changed its name to the United States Fencing Association in 1981. The USFA is affiliated with the Féderation Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), the international federation for fencing founded in Paris in 1913. The USFA was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in Pennsylvania in 1964 and in Colorado in 1993 in compliance with the Amateur Sports Act and opened its national office at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. in August of 1982. For more visit www.usfencing.org, www.facebook.com/usfencing or www.twitter.com/usfencing.
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