The United States Fencing Team has gotten off to a strong start in the competition at the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships in Belfast, Ireland winning four medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze) in the first two days of competition.
Nzihgha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Lee Kiefer (Versailles, Ky.) started the medal haul for the U.S., winning gold and silver respectively in the Cadet Individual Women’s foil competition on Sunday, April 5, the opening day of the competition. Prescod defended her Cadet World title by defeating teammate Kiefer in the gold medal bout. The Cadet Women’s Indivdual Sabre team continued the winning ways for the U.S. team on Monday, April 6, day two of the competition with Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.) winning gold and Nicole Glon (State College, Pa.) capturing the bronze.
{sidebar id=1}Day one of the competition also saw Margaret L.C. Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) take 12th place in the Cadet Individual Women’s Foil. In the Cadet Individual Men’s Sabre division the U.S. was represented by Michael Mills (Milburn, N.J.) in 20th place; Alexander Ryjik (Alexandria, Va.) in 33rd place and Will Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.) who finished 67th.
Outside of Wheeler’s gold and Glon’s bronze, day two also saw Celina Merza (Wayne, N.J.) finish 18th in the Cadet Individual Women’s Sabre. Peregrine Badger (Providence, R.I.), Jake Harbour (Santa Fe, N.M.) and Gavin Medley (Santa Fe, N.M.) represented the U.S. in the Cadet Individual Men’s Epee division finishing 18th, 48th and 88th respectively.
Tuesday, April 7, the third day of competition at the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships, is the scheduled day for competition in the Cadet Individual Men’s Foil and the Cadet Individual Women’s Epee. Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.), Jeremy Goldstein (Westport, Conn.) and Wilfred Curioso (Barrington, R.I.) will carry the flag for the U.S. in men’s foil, while Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.), Grace Neveu (San Francisco, Calif.) and Sarah Collins (Palm Harbor, Fla.) will look to put the U.S. on the medal stand in women’s epee.
Still upcoming for the U.S. squad will be 2008 U.S. Olympic Team member Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif./South Bend, Ind.). Meinhardt, the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer ever at 18 years-of-age and now a freshman at the University of Notre Dame, will compete in the Junior Men’s Foil events on April 10th and 13th. Meinhardt reached the round of 16 at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Also of note, Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), the sister of 2008 U.S. Olympian Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas/South Bend, Ind.), will be competing in Junior Women’s Epee events also on April 10th and 13th. Two coaches from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for Fencing, Ed Korfanty and Mike Pederson, are coaching the U.S. Junior and Cadet fencers at the 2009 Junior and Cadet World Championships.
Four members of Team USA are competing in both the Junior and Cadet categories. Nzihgha Prescod and Lee Kiefer are representing the U.S. in Junior and Cadet Women’s Foil; Diamond Wheeler (Portland, Ore.) is competing in both Cadet and Junior Women’s Sabre and Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) is competing in Junior and Cadet Men’s Foil. Massialas is the son of U.S. Olympian and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Coach (Men’s Foil) Greg Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.).
