USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The 40-athlete U.S. Junior and Cadet Team will take on fencers from six continents beginning on Saturday at the Junior and Cadet World Championships in Porec, Croatia.

Following the 2012 Junior and Cadet Worlds in which Team USA won an unprecedented 12 medals, nearly all of the athletes who reached the podium last year will be returning for a chance at gold.

In 2012, the U.S. Junior Men’s Foil Team became the first men’s foil squad to win three straight Junior World titles. London Olympian Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) anchored Team USA to both the gold medal finish at the Junior Worlds last year as well as a fourth-place result in London. Now ranked sixth in the world as a senior, the Stanford freshman has won two individual and two team senior international medals this season and is aiming for both individual and team golds in Croatia after finishing second in the individual competition in 2011 and third in 2012. Massialas’s London teammate Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.) played a key role in the Junior World titles for the Americans in both 2011 and 2012. The two-time Pan American Champion has yet to win an individual medal at the Junior Worlds, but is expected to be one of Massialas’s top opponents. Penn State freshman Nobuo Bravo (San Francisco, Calif.) will be making his Junior World debut after finishing 10^th at the Cadet Worlds in 2011. Harvard freshman Brian Kaneshige (Maplewood, N.J.) served as the team fourth on the squad that won gold in 2011 and will return to the role this year. Due to the fact that only three athletes per nation can compete in the individual events, Kaneshige will fence in the team competition only.

Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) finished fifth in women’s foil at the London Games and the Notre Dame freshman has won five medals at the Junior Worlds, but hasn’t stood on the top of the podium since 2009 when the Americans defeated Italy for gold in the team event. Ranked seventh as a senior, Kiefer is among the favorites to win the individual title and she hopes to anchor her squad to a team title after silver medal finishes behind Italy in 2011 and 2012. Columbia freshman Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) was on both of those silver-medal teams and also won bronze as part of a historic 1-2-3 U.S. finish in the individual event in 2011. Lu’s Columbia teammate, Jackie Dubrovich (Riverdale, N.J.), also holds two team silver medals, but will be looking for her first individual podium result. Sara Taffel (New York City, N.Y.) won the silver medal at the Cadet Worlds last year and will fence as the team fourth on this squad. Although this will be her first time fencing in the junior event, Taffel competed on the Senior World Cup circuit this season and will be well-prepared for her opponents.

In 2012, the U.S. Junior Women’s Epee Team upset Estonia to win bronze – the fourth medal in the last five years for the squad. Two-time Junior World Team medalist Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) will be joined in the individual event by Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas) – Holmes’s teammate on both the 2011 and 2012 Junior World Teams as well as at Princeton where Holmes is a sophomore and Van Brummen a freshman. Harvard freshman Nina Van Loon (Boulder, Colo.) will fence at her first Junior Worlds after a successful international season that included a bronze medal at the Laupheim Junior World Cup. Audrey Abend (New York City, N.Y.), who served as one of the team’s anchors last year, fell short of qualifying as an individual and will round out the squad in the team event.

Although the United States hasn’t won a team medal in men’s saber since 2010, this year’s squad includes two past individual medalists. Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.) and Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.) won silver medals in the individual junior and cadet events, respectively. While Dershwitz was a surprise to many in Moscow, his opponents will be watching him carefully as the two-time Junior World Team member is now ranked second in the world after two podium finishes on the Junior World Cup circuit earlier this season. Penn State freshman Kaito Streets (Redwood City, Calif.) will make his debut in the junior competition and 2011 Cadet World Team member Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.) will fence as the fourth at his first Junior Worlds after a season that began with a gold medal win at the Kiev Junior World Cup for the Columbia freshman.

Once a dominant force at the Junior Worlds where Team USA won medals at every event between 2004 and 2008, the U.S. Women’s Saber Team is seeking to return to the podium and will include 2012 Cadet World medalists Skyla Powers (Decatur, Ga.) and Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J.) who will fence as the team fourth. First-time Junior World Team member Adrienne Jarocki (Middle Village, N.Y.) made a splash in her second season on the international circuit with three Junior World Cup podium results and a top-four junior world ranking. Sixteen-year-old Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.) will be the only athlete on the U.S. team in any weapon to fence in the individual events for both the cadet and junior competitions.

The Junior Men’s Epee Team features a trio of newcomers as Lewis Weiss (Houston, Texas), Conor Shepard (Colleyville, Texas) and Alex House (Upton, Mass.) will all be fencing in their first team competitions. Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas) will compete in the cadet event prior to joining the squad as the team fourth.

While the Cadet World Team features a sea of new faces, four members of the 2012 foil squads will be back in action in Croatia, including men’s fencers Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas) and Axel Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) – both of whom won medals on the Cadet European Circuit this season. The youngest member of Team USA in 2012, Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.) finished eighth at the Cadet Worlds as a 14-year-old and her teammate Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) is aiming for her first podium finish at the Cadet Worlds after winning silver at the Budapest Cadet European Cup in October. Both Axel and Sabrina will be following in the footsteps of their older siblings – London Olympians and former Cadet World Champions Alexander Massialas and Lee Kiefer.

Competition schedule is as follows:

Saturday, April 6
Cadet men’s saber pools and table of 64
Cadet women’s foil pools and table of 64

Sunday, April 7
Cadet men’s saber table of 32 – finals
Cadet women’s foil table of 32 – finals
Cadet women’s epee pools and table of 64
Cadet men’s epee pools and tables of 128 and 64

Monday, April 8
Cadet men’s epee table of 32 – finals
Cadet women’s saber table of 32 – finals
Cadet men’s foil pools and table of 64
Cadet women’s saber pools and table of 64

Tuesday, April 9
Cadet men’s foil table of 32 – finals
Cadet women’s saber table of 32 – finals
Individual Junior men’s saber pools and table of 64
Individual Junior women’s foil pools and table of 64

Wednesday, April 10
Individual Junior men’s saber table of 32 – finals
Individual Junior women’s foil table of 32 – finals
Individual Junior women’s epee pools and tables of 128 and 64
Individual Junior men’s epee pools and tables of 128 and 64

Thursday, April 11
Individual Junior women’s epee table of 32 – finals
Individual Junior men’s epee table of 32 – finals
Individual Junior men’s foil pools and table of 64
Individual Junior women’s saber pools and table of 64

Friday, April 12
Individual Junior men’s foil table of 32 – finals
Individual Junior women’s saber table of 32 – finals
Team Junior Men’s saber table of 32
Team Junior Women’s foil table of 32

Saturday, April 13
Team Junior men’s saber table of 16 – finals
Team Junior women’s Foil table of 16 – finals
Team Junior women’s epee table of 32
Team Junior men’s epee table of 32

Sunday, April 14
Team Junior women’s epee table of 16 – finals
Team Junior men’s epee table of 16 – finals
Team Junior men’s foil table of 32
Team Junior women’s saber table of 32

Monday, April 15
Team Junior men’s foil table of 16 – finals
Team Junior women’s saber table of 16 – finals

Athlete roster is as follows:

Cadet Men’s Epee
Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas)
Jake Raynis (Chatsworth, Calif.)
Gabriel Canaux (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Cadet Women’s Epee
Amanda Sirico (Bowie, Md.)
Madeline Kehl (Valencia, Calif.)
Kasia Nixon (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Cadet Men’s Foil
Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas)
Thomas Dudey (Bellaire, Texas)
Axel Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)

Cadet Women’s Foil
Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
Kate Northrop (Bridgewater, N.J.)
Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.)

Cadet Men’s Saber
Jonah Shainberg (Rye, N.Y.)
Edward Chin (Livingston, N.J.)
Calvin Liang (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Cadet Women’s Saber
Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.)
Lena Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.)
Anastasia Ivanoff (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Junior Men’s Epee
Lewis Weiss (Houston, Texas)
Conor Shepard (Colleyville, Texas)
Alex House (Upton, Mass.)
Team Fourth: Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas)

Junior Women’s Epee
Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas)
Nina Van Loon (Boulder, Colo.)
Team Fourth: Audrey Abend (New York City, N.Y.)

Junior Men’s Foil
Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Nobuo Bravo (San Francisco, Calif.)
Team Fourth: Brian Kaneshige (Maplewood, N.J.)

Junior Women’s Foil
Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)
Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.)
Jackie Dubrovich (Riverdale, N.J.)
Team Fourth: Sara Taffel (New York City, N.Y.)

Junior Women’s Saber
Adrienne Jarocki (Middle Village, N.Y.)
Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.)
Skyla Powers (Decatur, Ga.)
Team Fourth: Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J.)

Junior Men’s Saber
Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.)
Kaito Streets (Redwood City, Calif.)
Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.)
Team Fourth: Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.)