USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The long-standing rivalry between the U.S. Women’s Foil Team and Canada continued on Wednesday at the Pan American Championships in Cartagena, Colombia.

The two teams have fenced each other in the gold medal finals of the last five Pan Ams and this year the nations would battle again for the honor of being the best team in the region and earning world ranking points that will play a key role in seeding at the Senior World Championships in August.

Following a 1-2-3 finish in the individual competition by Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.), Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.), Team USA was determined to settle for nothing less than gold.

Seeded first in the competition, Team USA earned a bye into the quarter-finals where Kiefer, Prescod and Lu were the starting lineup against Puerto Rico. Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.) came into the final bout as anchor and closed out the match for Team USA, 45-10.  

In the semifinals, all four athletes returned to the strip where Team USA held Venezuela to an average of two touches per bout as Prescod anchored Team USA to a 45-18 victory.

Team USA won the gold medal final against Canada, 38-36, to remain undefeated in eight straight Pan American Championships.

In the men’s epee competition, Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.), Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Adam Watson (Richfield, Vt.) and Alexander Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.) began the event as the top seed in the direct elimination table.

Following a 45-34 victory in the quarter-finals against the Dominican Republic, Team USA faced Cuba – a team whose athletes earned three of the top eight positions in the individual event.

Team USA led for most of the first seven bouts, but Cuba pulled ahead by a single touch (45-39) in the eighth. Thompson came in as anchor in the ninth to secure a 45-44 victory for the Americans.

In a rematch of the 2012 Pan Am gold medal final, Team USA fenced Venezuela for the title, but the Americans fell short and Venezuela won the match, 45-35.

Competition continues on Wednesday with the men’s team foil and women’s team saber events.

Click here to view complete men’s team epee results.

Click here to view complete women’s team foil results.

Top eight results are as follows:

Women’s Team Foil
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Venezuela
4. Mexico
5. Brazil
6. Colombia
7. Argentina
8. Puerto Rico

Men’s Team Epee
1. Venezuela
2. USA
3. Cuba
4. Chile
5. Canada
6. Mexico
7. Colombia
8. Dominican Republic