Olympians Jacobson, Kelsey Among Early Winners at Summer Nationals
ATLANTA, Ga. – Athens Olympian Emily Jacobson (Atlanta, Ga.) was right at home at the U.S. Fencing Summer National Championships at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga., July 4-13. The tournament’s tenth seed won the Division One Women’s Saber event on Monday, defeating fourth-seeded Samantha Roberts (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) in the final, 15-8.
Beijing Olympians Seth “Weston” Kelsey (Bush Prairie, Wash.) outlasted 54 other fencers to take home the Men’s Division One Epee national championship on Monday by out-dueling Olympic teammate Cody Mattern (Portland, Ore.), 15-11, in the final round.
Empire United Fencing from New York City beat Fencing Academy of South Jersey in the final of the Women’s Under 19 Team Foil event, 42-35. April Whitney, Margaret Lu and Samantha Lee combined to take down the trio of Sarah Parmacek, Sharon Gao and individual U19 Women’s Foil finalist Ambika Singh (Skillman, N.J.).
On Sunday, Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Adrian Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) won the Under 19 Women’s Foil and Men’s Saber national titles, respectively. The 17-year-old Prescod rolled through the field, winning all 12 bouts and never surrendering more than eight touches. Bak defeated 17-year-old 2010 Junior Olympian Will Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.), 15-13, in the final.
“Fencing, in general, in the U.S. has become so much more popular in the past several years,” Prescod said. “I'm excited to see all the newer competitors and of course the more experienced fencers at Nationals in Atlanta.”
Summer Nationals continue Tuesday with Division One Men’s Saber and Women’s Epee action, among other events. Beijing Olympians Tim Morehouse (Bronx, N.Y.) and Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) highlight the fields in their respective divisions.
Atlanta is hosting the event for the third time. The competition takes place in Hall B5 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. 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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