The 2006-2007 Senior World Cup season is well under way, and U.S. fencers are climbing individual and team rankings consistently across all of the six
fencing weapons.
The U.S. senior women’s saber fencers continue to lead the world. They hold
the top three world ranks virtually uncontested and are the top-ranked team
in the world. 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mariel Zagunis (22, Beaverton,
Ore.) is ranked #1 in the world, and has earned two World Cup gold and one
bronze this season already. The only world cup this season without at least
one U.S. woman in the top eight was the one cup that the squad did not
attend.
Rebecca Ward (17, Portland, Ore.), the 2006 World Champion, is in the #2
spot, and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Sada Jacobson (24, Dunwoody, Ga.) is
ranked third.
Emily Cross (20, New York, N.Y.) continues to rise through the senior
women’s foil rankings, earning a silver at a world cup in Leipzig in
February and a top-16 finish at the Gran Prix in Marseilles, France on March
23. She also was a key member of the women’s foil team that finished 4th in
Marseille and 6th in St. Petersburg, Russia in early March. Cross is now
ranked 12th in the world.
Courtney Hurley (16, Medina, Texas) is ranked 15th in the world senior
women’s epee standings — an extremely impressive rank for her age. She
placed 5th at the Wurth Cup, an "A" cup in Germany, and 11th at a world up
in Luxembourg, as well.
On the men’s side, the saber squad is performing well among the top in the
sport, as well. Tim Morehouse (28 Bronx, N.Y.) won a silver at the World Cup
in Algeria on March 23 and place 8th in Tunisia on March 16. Jason Rogers
(23, Los Angeles, Calif.) earned a bronze at the esteemed Gran Prix in
Plovdiv, Bulgaria on March 3; and Ivan Lee (26, Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Keeth
Smart (28, Brooklyn, N.Y.) have reached finals of 8 at several other cups
and Gran Prix, as well.
Lee, Rogers, Morehouse and Smart are all ranked in the top 30 in the world,
with Lee cracking the top 16 at 11th. The squad is ranked 8th in the world.
Seth Kelsey (25, Colorado Springs, Colo.) is making his mark on the men’s
epee field, and is now ranked 10th in the world. Soren Thompson (25, San
Diego, Calif.) is close behind, at 18th, with a 5th place finish at the Gran
Prix in Stockholm in early March.
And in men’s foil, the team of Jed Dupree (27, New York, N.Y.), Gerek
Meinhardt (16, San Francisco, Calif.), and Jon Tiomkin (27, Hewlett, N.Y.)
finished 8th at a Gran Prix in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 11. The U.S.
men’s foil team is now ranked fifth in the world.
