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U.S. Cadets Wrap up With Six Medals; Juniors Take Over

04/09/2009, 1:30am CDT
By No Author

For Immediate Release

April 9, 2009

U.S. Cadets Wrap up With Six Medals; Juniors Take Over at the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships in Belfast, Ireland

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Fencing Cadet Team wrapped up their portion of an extremely successful 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships winning a total of six medals for Team USA (two gold, two silver and two bronze).  On Tuesday, April 7, the final day of cadet competition, Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) won silver in the Cadet Individual Women's Epee division, while Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) garnered bronze in the Cadet Individual Men's Foil competition.  Wilfred Curioso (Barrington, R.I.) and Jeremy Goldstein (Westport, Conn.) followed Massialas, finishing 12th and 22nd respectively.  In Cadet Individual Women's Epee, Sarah Collins (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and Grace Neveu (San Francisco, Calif.) finished 51st and 61st respectively.

Picking up where the cadets left off, Daryl Homer (New York, N.Y.) kicked off the junior portion of the event by winning bronze in the Junior Individual Men's Sabre competition on Tuesday, April 8.  Following Homer for the U.S. was Avery Zuck (South Bend, Ind.) in 16th Place and Barron Nydam (Solano Beach, Calif./South Bend, Ind.) in 33rd place.

Competing for a second time in this competition, Nzihgha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.), strived to duplicate her gold medal performance in the Cadet Individual Women's Foil from a few days earlier, but this time in the Junior Individual Women's Foil it was not to be as she placed eighth to lead the U.S. women's team.  Prescod was followed by Nicole Ross (New York, N.Y.) in ninth place and Lee Kiefer (Versailles, Ky.) in 18th place.

Thursday, April 9 will see Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.) going for her second gold medal in three days, as she won gold in the Cadet Individual Women's Sabre division on Monday, April 6.  Today she will be going for gold in the Junior Individual Women's Sabre.  She will be joined by Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.) and Caroline Vloka (Upper Saddle River, N.J.).  Also competing today is the Junior Individual Men's Epee athletes Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.), Corwin Duncan (College Park, Md.) and James Kaull (Washington, D.C.)

Still upcoming for the U.S. squad will be 2008 U.S. Olympic Team member Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif./South Bend, Ind.).  Meinhardt, the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer ever at 18 years-of-age and now a freshman at the University of Notre Dame, will compete in the Junior Men's Foil events on April 10th and 13th.  Meinhardt reached the round of 16 at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.  Also of note, Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), the sister of 2008 U.S. Olympian Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas/South Bend, Ind.), will be competing in Junior Women's Epee events also on April 10th and 13th.  Two coaches from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for Fencing, Ed Korfanty and Mike Pederson, are coaching the U.S. Junior and Cadet fencers at the 2009 Junior and Cadet World Championships.

Four members of Team USA are competing in both the Junior and Cadet categories.  Nzihgha Prescod and Lee Kiefer represented the U.S. in Junior and Cadet Women's Foil; Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.) is competing in both Cadet and Junior Women's Sabre and Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) is competing in Junior and Cadet Men's Foil.  Massialas is the son of U.S. Olympian and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Coach (Men's Foil) Greg Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.).

Please see below for U.S. results and upcoming schedule for the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships, April 5-13 in Belfast, Ireland.

For complete brackets and results from the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships, please visit the official website of U.S. Fencing at http://www.usfencing.org/ or http://www.worldfencing2009.com/, the official event website.

Schedule and U.S. Results:

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Cadet Women's Individual Foil

  • Nzihgha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) - Gold Medal
  • Lee Kiefer (Versailles, Ky.) - Silver Medal
  • Margaret L.C. Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) - 12th Place

Cadet Men's Individual Sabre

  • Michael Mills (Milburn, N.J.) - 20th Place
  • Alexander Ryjik (Alexandria, Va.) - 33rd Place
  • Will Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.) - 67th Place

Monday, April 6, 2009

Cadet Individual Women's Sabre

  • Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.) - Gold Medal
  • Nicole Glon (State College, Pa.) - Bronze Medal
  • Celina Merza (Wayne, N.J.) - 18th Place

Cadet Individual Men's Epee

  • Peregrine Badger (Providence, R.I.) - 18th Place
  • Jake Harbour (Santa Fe, N.M.) - 48th Place
  • Gavin Medley (Santa Fe, N.M.) - 88th Place

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Cadet Individual Men's Foil

  • Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) - Bronze Medal
  • Wilfred Curioso (Barrington, R.I.) - 12th Place
  • Jeremy Goldstein (Westport, Conn.) - 22nd Place

Cadet Individual Women's Epee

  • Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) - Silver Medal
  • Grace Neveu (San Francisco, Calif.) - 51st Place
  • Sarah Collins (Palm Harbor, Fla.) - 61st Place

 

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Junior Individual Men's Sabre

  • Daryl Homer (New York, N.Y.) - Bronze Medal
  • Avery Zuck (South Bend, Ind.) - 16th Place
  • Barron Nydam (Solano Beach, Calif./South Bend, Ind.) - 33rd Place

Junior Individual Women's Foil

  • Nzihgha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) - Eighth Place
  • Nicole Ross (New York, N.Y.) - Ninth Place
  • Lee Kiefer (Versailles, Ky.) - 18th Place

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Junior Individual Women's Sabre

  • Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.)
  • Caroline Vloka (Upper Saddle River, N.J.)
  • Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.)

Junior Individual Men's Epee

  • Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.)
  • Corwin Duncan (College Park, Md.)
  • James Kaull (Washington, D.C.)

Friday, April 10, 2009

Junior Individual Men's Foil

  • Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif./South Bend, Ind.)
  • Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
  • Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Junior Individual Women's Epee

  • Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
  • Susannah Scanlan (St. Paul, Minn.)
  • Francesca Bassa (Houston, Texas)

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Junior Team Men's Sabre

  • Barron Nydam (Solano Beach, Calif./South Bend, Ind.)
  • Avery Zuck (South Bend, Ind.)
  • Daryl Homer (New York, N.Y.)
  • Bryan Cheney (Team Event)

Junior Team Women's Foil

  • Nzihgha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
  • Lee Kiefer (Versailles, Ky.)
  • Nicole Ross (New York, N.Y.)
  • Epiphany Georges (Brooklyn, N.Y./Team Event)

 

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Junior Team Women's Sabre

  • Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.)
  • Caroline Vloka (Upper Saddle River, N.J.)
  • Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.)
  • Lian Bianca Osier (Battle Ground, Wash./Team Event)

Junior Team Men's Epee

  • Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.)
  • Corwin Duncan (College Park, Md.)
  • James Kaull (Washington, D.C.)
  • Adam Watson (Richford, Vt./Team Event)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Junior Team Men's Foil

  • Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif./South Bend, Ind.)
  • Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
  • Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia, Pa.)
  • Zain Shaito (Garland, Texas/Team Event)

Junior Team Women's Epee

  • Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
  • Susannah Scanlan (St. Paul, Minn.)
  • Francesca Bassa (Houston, Texas)
  • Hannah Safford (San Francisco, Calif./Team Event)

Please see below for the listing of Cadre/Team Staff for the U.S. Fencing Team Roster for the 2009 Junior and Cadet World Championships:

Cadre/Team Staff:

Coaches
Men's Sabre:  Alex Ryjik (Cadet) and Dmitriy Guy (Junior)
Women's Epee:  Maureen Griffin (Cadet) and Ro Sobalvarro (Junior)
Women's Sabre:  Ed Korfanty
Women's Foil:  Mike Pederson
Men's Foil:  Michael Itkin
Men's Epee:  James Odom (Cadet) and Boris Vaksman (Junior)

Head of Delegation:  Andrea Lagan
Team Captain:  Jim Carpenter
Team Manager:  Alan Kuver
Armorers:  Scott Harkey and Bill Murphy
Athletic Trainers:  Nick Tobianski and Brian Hardy

For more information please contact Cecil Bleiker, NGB Media Services Director for U.S. Fencing at 719-866-4608.  This press release is also available on the USOC's media specific website at www.usocpressbox.org.



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