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U.S. Fencing Team Off to Strong Start

04/07/2009, 10:43am CDT
By No Author

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The United States Fencing Team has gotten off to a strong start in the competition at the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships in Belfast, Ireland winning four medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze) in the first two days of competition.  Nzihgha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Lee Kiefer (Versailles, Ky.) started the medal haul for the U.S., winning gold and silver respectively in the Cadet Individual Women's foil competition on Sunday, April 5, the opening day of the competition.  Prescod defended her Cadet World title by defeating teammate Kiefer in the gold medal bout.  The Cadet Women's Indivdual Sabre team continued the winning ways for the U.S. team on Monday, April 6, day two of the competition with Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.) winning gold and Nicole Glon (State College, Pa.) capturing the bronze.

Day one of the competition also saw Margaret L.C. Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) take 12th place in the Cadet Individual Women's Foil.  In the Cadet Individual Men's Sabre division the U.S. was represented by Michael Mills (Milburn, N.J.) in 20th place; Alexander Ryjik (Alexandria, Va.) in 33rd place and Will Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.) who finished 67th.

Outside of Wheeler's gold and Glon's bronze, day two also saw Celina Merza (Wayne, N.J.) finish 18th in the Cadet Individual Women's Sabre.  Peregrine Badger (Providence, R.I.), Jake Harbour (Santa Fe, N.M.) and Gavin Medley (Santa Fe, N.M.) represented the U.S. in the Cadet Individual Men's Epee division finishing 18th, 48th and 88th respectively.

Tuesday, April 7, the third day of competition at the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships, is the scheduled day for competition in the Cadet Individual Men's Foil and the Cadet Individual Women's Epee.  Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.), Jeremy Goldstein (Westport, Conn.) and Wilfred Curioso (Barrington, R.I.) will carry the flag for the U.S. in men's foil, while Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.), Grace Neveu (San Francisco, Calif.) and Sarah Collins (Palm Harbor, Fla.) will look to put the U.S. on the medal stand in women's epee.

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 are representing 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.)

Jeremy Goldstein (Westport, Conn.)

Wilfred Curioso (Barrington, R.I.)

 

Cadet Individual Women's Epee

Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)

Grace Neveu (San Francisco, Calif.)

Sarah Collins (Palm Harbor, Fla.)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Junior Individual Men's Sabre

Barron Nydam (Solano Beach, Calif./South Bend, Ind.)

Avery Zuck (South Bend, Ind.)

Daryl Homer (New York, N.Y.)

Junior Individual Women's Foil

Nzihgha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Lee Kiefer (Versailles, Ky.)

Nicole Ross (New York, N.Y.)

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



Tag(s): News  Lee Kiefer