- Team USA looks to repeat a strong 2011 performance at the Cadet and Junior World Championships
The 31-person US team includes athletes competing in junior (U20) and cadet (U17) events for men’s and women’s epee, foil and saber.
In 2011, the U.S. Foil Teams earned more medals than any other nation with a total of eight podium finishes.
All three athletes who finished 1-2-3 in junior women’s foil will be returning to the team this year.
Gold medalist Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and silver medalist Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) are now the top two candidates for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. Now 17-years-old, Kiefer was the only athlete in 2011 to win individual medals at the Cadet, Junior and Senior World Championships. Prescod won medals at the senior level at both the Pan American Championships and Games last year as well.
Like Kiefer, 2011 Junior World bronze medalist Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) has aged out of the cadet event and will compete solely as a junior this year.
The trio, along with 2011 Junior and Cadet World Team member Jacqueline Dubrovich (Riverdale, N.J.) who will compete as the team’s fourth athlete this year, won the silver medal in the team event following a close battle with Italy. The ever-powerful Italians have been in the gold medal final five times in the past six years and are expected to be one of Team USA’s greatest opponents.
The U.S. Men’s Junior Foil Team will return two members of the team that won team gold in 2011.
Now the top-ranked senior men’s fencer in the nation, 17-year-old Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) earned a silver medal in the individual junior event last year and successfully defended his 2010 Cadet World title.
Massialas has now aged out of cadets and will compete in the junior events with his 2011 teammate Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who finished eighth at the Senior World Championships. Massialas and Imboden are now ranked among the top 16 men’s senior foil fencers in the world after the two each won bronze at the Paris Foil World Cup last month.
The epee and saber teams also include several athletes who have earned top-eight individual finishes at the Junior and Cadet Worlds.
Fresh off a bronze medal epee win at the NCAA Championships last week, Princeton freshman Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) won a silver medal at the 2009 Cadet World Championships and won a silver medal in the team event in 2010. Holmes’s 2011 teammate, 17-year-old Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas) finished fifth at the Cadet Worlds and eighth in the junior event in her U.S. team debut last year.
Sixteen-year-old Skyla Powers (Atlanta, Ga.) finished eighth in the cadet event last year and 10th as a junior. Powers will fence in both age groups this year.
The team is led by a staff of the following coaches:
Men’s Foil
Greg Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
Women’s Foil
Amgad Khazbak (Lexington, Ky.)
Men’s Epee
Ervin Szucs (Fairfax, Va.)
Women’s Epee
Maureen Griffin (San Francisco, Calif.)
Men’s Saber
Daniel Costin (Culver City, Calif.)
Women’s Saber
Oleg Stetsiv (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Competition schedule is as follows:
Saturday, March 31
Cadet Women’s Individual Foil
Cadet Men’s Individual Saber
Sunday, April 1
Cadet Women’s Individual Saber
Cadet Men’s Individual Foil
Monday, April 2
Cadet Women’s Individual Epee
Cadet Men’s Individual Epee
Tuesday, April 3
Junior Women’s Individual Foil
Junior Men’s Individual Saber
Wednesday, April 4
Junior Women’s Individual Saber
Junior Men’s Individual Foil
Thursday, April 5
Junior Women’s Individual Epee
Junior Men’s Individual Epee
Friday, April 6
Junior Women’s Team Foil
Junior Men’s Team Saber
Saturday, April 7
Junior Women’s Team Saber
Junior Men’s Team Foil
Sunday, April 8
Junior Women’s Team Epee
Junior Men’s Team Epee
The complete athlete roster is as follows (Members of the 2011 Junior and Cadet World Teams are noted with an *):
Junior Men’s Epee Team
*Alexander Eldeib (Burke, Va. / 17)
Joseph Rafidi (Hidden Hills, Calif. / 19)
Dylan Nollner (Ogden, Utah / 19)
Team Fourth: Garrett McGrath (Maricopa, Ariz. / 16)
Junior Men’s Foil Team
*Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif. / 17), 2011 Junior World Champion (team), Junior World silver medalist (individual) and Cadet World Champion
*Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y. / 18), 2011 Junior World Champion (team)
Michael Dudey (Bellaire, Texas / 19)
Team Fourth: *Jerry Chang (Mountain View, Calif. / 17)
Junior Men’s Saber Team
Alexander Ryjik (Alexandria, Va. / 19)
*Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass. / 16)
Michael Costin (Culver City, Calif. / 16)
Team Fourth: John Hallsten (Sacramento, Calif. / 17)
Junior Women’s Epee Team
*Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas / 17)
*Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C. / 18)
*Audrey Abend (New York City, N.Y. / 16)
Team Fourth: Ashley Severson (Franklin Lakes, N.J. / 18)
Junior Women’s Foil
*Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky. / 17), 2011 Junior World silver medalist (individual and team) and Cadet World silver medalist
*Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y. / 19), 2011 Junior World Champion (individual) and Junior World silver medalist (team)
*Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn. / 18), 2011 Junior World silver medalist (team) and Junior World bronze medalist (individual)
Team Fourth: *Jacqueline Dubrovich (Riverdale, N.J. / 17), 2011 Junior World silver medalist (team)
Junior Women’s Saber
*Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J. / 16)
*Skyla Powers (Decatur, Ga. / 16)
*Margaret McDonald (Atlanta, Ga. / 17)
Team Fourth: Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore. / 15)
Cadet Men’s Epee Team
*Alexander Eldeib (Burke, Va. / 17)
Garrett McGrath (Maricopa, Ariz. / 16)
Spencer Amann (Westminster, Colo. / 16)
Cadet Men’s Foil Team
Stephen Mageras (Darien, Conn. / 16)
Axel Kiefer (Lexington, Ky. / 15)
Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas / 15)
Cadet Men’s Saber Team
*Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass. / 16)
Michael Costin (Culver City, Calif. / 17)
Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass. / 16)
Cadet Women’s Epee Team
*Audrey Abend (New York City, N.Y. / 16)
*Jessie Radanovich (Tollhouse, Calif.)
Victoria Wines (Mahopac, N.Y. / 17)
Cadet Women’s Foil
Sara Taffel (New York City, N.Y. / 17)
Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif. / 15)
Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass. / 14)
Cadet Women’s Saber
*Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J. / 16)
*Skyla Powers (Atlanta, Ga. / 16)
Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore. / 15)