USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Two-time Senior World Team member Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C.) earned a top-16 World Cup result on Saturday when she finished 14th in Barcelona, Spain.

After advancing through the pools and preliminary rounds on Friday, Holmes entered the table of 64 as the 36th seed and outscored Ana Maria Constantin (ROU), 6-5, to qualify for the table of 32 where she was scheduled to fence 2014 Senior World bronze medalist Erika Kirpu (EST).

Kirpu withdrew from the bout, however, and Holmes moved on to the table of 16.

Holmes scored first in her bout against Ricarda Multerer (GER) and held a 1-0 lead when non-combattivity was called and the bout was sent into the second period. After a single from Holmes and a double touch, Multerer scored twice in the final minute of the period to tie the bout at three. Although Holmes built a 10-7 lead in the third period, Multerer came back to tie the bout at 10. Both athletes scored a double with 30 seconds, but the bout was sent to overtime with Holmes having priority. Following an early double, Multerer pushed Holmes to the back of the strip and scored a single to take a 12-11 win.

London Olympic team bronze medalist Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) was exempt from the early rounds as the tournament’s 10th seed. Hurley held off Olga Kochneva (RUS), 15-14, in the table of 64, but lost to 2014 Senior World team bronze medalist Francesca Quondamcarlo (ITA), 15-12.

Three members of Team USA qualified for the table of 64, but did not advance to the later rounds.

Francesca Bassa (Houston, Texas), a 2009 Junior World team medalist, earned her first top-64 result of the new season with her 58th place result. Bassa drew Marie Florence Candassamy (FRA) in the table of 64 and lost the bout, 15-12.

Fencing in her second Senior World Cup since obtaining her U.S. citizenship, two-time NCAA Champion Katarzyna Trzopek (Pacifica, Calif.) nearly upset reigning Senior World Champion Rossella Fiamingo (ITA), but lost the bout, 13-12, and finished 62nd.

A 2014 Senior World Team member, Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas) fell one touch short of earning her biggest career bout victory when she lost her table of 64 bout to 2012 Olympic silver medalist Britta Heidemann (GER), 15-14. Van Brummen placed 63rd overall.

On Sunday, Holmes, Hurley, Van Brummen and 2012 Olympic team bronze medalist Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) fenced in the team event.

Team USA lost to Ukraine, 41-40, in the table of 16, but rebounded to defeat Pan American rival Venezuela, 34-27, in the table for 9th – 16th place.

The Americans lost to Korea, the 2012 Olympic silver medalists, by a score of 40-45 in the next round, but finished the day with a 40-33 win against a German squad led by Heidemann.

Click here to view complete individual results.

Click here to view complete team results.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows, including athletes who placed outside the top 64 on Friday:

Barcelona Individual Epee World Cup
1. Anqi Xu (CHN)
2. Mara Navarria (ITA)
3. Violetta Kolobova (RUS)
3. Yana Shemyakina (UKR)
5. Marie Florence Candassamy (FRA)
6. Tatyana Andryushina (RUS)
7. Yiwen Sun (CHN)
8. Ricarda Multerer (GER)

14. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
21. Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
58. Francesca Bassa (Houston, Texas)
62. Katarzyna Trzopek (Pacifica, Calif.)
63. Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas)
70. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
79. Natalie Vie (Phoenix, Ariz.)
95. Amanda Sirico (Bowie, Md.)
155. Rebecca Chimahusky (Wheaton, Md.)
166. Courtney Dumas (Shaker Heights, Ohio)
207. Madeline Antekeier (Houston, Texas)

Barcelona Team Epee World Cup
1. Sweden
2. Italy
3. Romania
4. Russia
5. China
6. France
7. Switzerland
8. Ukraine

11. USA