USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA concluded the Pan American Championships with the eighth and ninth gold medals of the week on Friday in San Jose, Costa Rica as the women’s foil and men’s saber squads both successfully defended their 2013 titles.

Although the U.S. Men’s Saber Team was missing both 2012 Olympian Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y.) and newly crowned Pan Am Champion Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.) due to work and school commitments, the Americans entered the team event ready to defend a title that has been held by Team USA since the first Pan Am Championships were held in 2006.

London Olympian Jeff Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.) stepped in as anchor and joined with teammates Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.), Andrew Fischl (Huntington, N.Y.) and Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.) to defeat the Dominican Republic, 45-26, after a bye into the quarter-finals.

Team USA controlled the semifinals against Mexico for a 45-18 win and held off Canada to take gold, 45-42.

The U.S. Women’s Foil Team also came into the event with a streak to defend as the seven-time reigning Pan American Champions.

A trio of London Olympians – Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.), Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.) – fenced in the team competition with 2014 Junior World Team Champion Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) who was making her Pan Am debut.

The top-seeded Americans opened with a 45-9 win over Guatemala in the quarters and took a 41-26 win in the semis over Venezuela.

In a rematch of what has been the Pan Am final in every year since 2008, Team USA fenced Canada for gold and Ross anchored the squad to a 21-16 victory.

The complete list of U.S. medalists at the 2014 Pan American Championships is as follows:

Sunday, June 1
Women’s Epee
Gold: Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
Silver: Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
Bronze: Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas)

Men’s Foil
Gold: Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.)
Silver: Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)

Monday, June 2
Women’s Saber
Silver: Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.)
Bronze: Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.)
Bronze: Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.)

Men’s Epee
Bronze: Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Tuesday, June 3
Women’s Foil
Gold: Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)
Bronze: Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Men’s Saber
Gold: Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.)
Bronze: Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y.)

Wednesday, June 4
Women’s Team Epee
Gold: Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) and Amanda Sirico (Bowie, Md.)

Men’s Team Foil
Gold: Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.), Miles Chamley-Watson (San Francisco, Calif.), Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and David Willette (San Francisco, Calif.)

Thursday, June 5
Women’s Team Saber
Gold: Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.), Eliza Stone (Chicago, Ill.), Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.) and Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.)

Men’s Team Epee
Bronze: Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Adam Watson (Richfield, Vt.) and Jonathan Yergler (Long Island City, N.Y.)

Friday, June 6
Women’s Team Foil
Gold: Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.), Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.) and Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)

Men’s Team Saber
Gold: Jeff Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.), Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.), Andrew Fischl (Huntington, N.Y.) and Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.)