The United States Fencing Association (USFA) has selected the athletes who will represent the United States at the 2004 Junior and Cadet World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, April 1-8, 2004.
The
Championships are held every year by the Federation Internationale d’Escrime
(FIE), the international governing body of the sport of fencing. More than 100
countries are members of the FIE, including the U.S. The USFA is the national
governing body for the sport in the United States.
Three
athletes have been selected by the USFA in each weapon (men’s epee, foil, and
saber; women’s epee, foil and saber) for each age category, Cadet (Under-17) and
Junior (Under-20).
The
Championships includes individual competitions in each age group and weapon,
plus Junior Team competitions in each weapon. Four fencers — three fencers plus
one substitute — compete on each team.
In 2003, the U.S. contingent earned two team and
three individual medals. Twenty members of this year’s team are veterans of one
or more Championships teams, including several who reached the medal podium.
This year’s challenge is to surpass the 2001 medal count of nine — the U.S.
all-time high.
In addition, at least three athletes on this team
are on the short list to qualify for, and perhaps medal at, the 2004 Olympic
Games in Athens.
One
of those, Mariel Zagunis (19, Beaverton, Ore) will be named the season’s Junior
World Cup winner in a ceremony at the Championships for the third year in a row.
This ties the all-time record for number of Junior World Cup titles held by a
single competitor, male or female. Zagunis is the third fencer and the first
American to accomplish this feat.
The
U.S. is rapidly gaining international recognition by the international medal
performances of its young fencers; in 1992, Felicia Zimmermann won the first
World Championship medal since 1975. U.S. fencers have earned multiple medals
every single year since 1994.
NOTES:
Average Team Age: 16.95 years
Foundation Fencers: Kamara James (Junior women’s epee), Dwight Smith
(Cadet men’s epee), Adam Crompton (Junior men’s saber team) and
Benjamin Bratton (Junior men’s epee) all got their
start in the sport through the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a New York City
non-profit established by the six-time Olympian Peter Westbrook to teach fencing
to inner-city kids.
History of the
Championships
The World Under-20 Championships began with men’s
foil in 1950. Men’s saber was added in 1952, followed by men’s epee in 1955,
women’s foil in 1956, women’s epee in 1989 and women’s saber in 1999. The World
Under-17 Championships began in 1987. The two championships have been held
together since 1993. Last year’s championships were held in Trapani,
Italy.
Roster:
Cadet Men’s Foil
Clinton Kershaw (17, Clovis, Calif./Lucchetti
Fencing Foundation/home school)
Brendan J. Meyers (15,
New York, N.Y./Fencers Club/Professional Children’s
School)
Mark
Kubik (17, San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan H.S.)
Alternate:
Kurt Getz (15, Rye,
N.Y./Fencing Acad. of Westchester)
Junior Men’s Foil
Brendan J. Meyers (15,
New York, N.Y./Fencers Club/Professional Children’s School)
Clinton Kershaw (17, Clovis, Calif./Lucchetti
Fencing Foundation/home school)
Dimitri Kirk-Gordon
(18, Campbell, Calif./ Lucchetti
Fencing Foundation/home school)
Team:
Nicholas Chinman (15, Boulder, Colo./Northern Colo.
Fencers)
Cadet Women’s
Foil
Doris Willette (16, Lafayette, Calif./Golden
Gate)
Kelsey Finkel (17, New York, N.Y./Fencers
Club)
Samantha
J Nemecek (16, Alto, Mich./West Mich. F.A.)
Alternate: Abigail Emerson (16, Manchester,
N.H./Seacoast Fencing/)
Junior Women’s Foil
Emily Cross (17, New York, N.Y./Fencers Club/The
Brearly School)
Jacqueline Leahy (18,
Aurora, Colo./Fencers Club/Princeton Univ. ’06)
Cassidy
Luitjen (19, San Antonio,
Texas/Fencers Club/Columbia Univ. ’07)
Team:
Samantha J Nemecek (16, Alto, Mich./West Mich. F.A.)
Cadet Women’s
Epee
Kelley Hurley (15,
San Antonio, Texas/Team Hurley)
Keri Byerts (16, Webster, N.Y./NorthWest
F.C.)
Christa French
(16, Southlake, Texas/Grapevine
Texas F.C.)
Alternate: Danielle
Henderson (15, Piscataway, N.J./Lilov Fenc. Acad.)
Junior Women’s
Epee
Kamara James (19, Jamaica, N.Y./Westbrook
Foundation/Princeton ’06)
Kelley Hurley (15,
San Antonio, Texas/Team Hurley)
Amy
Orlando (19, Beaverton, Ore./North West Fencing Center/Notre Dame
’07)
Team: Alexie Rubin (18, Los Angeles, Calif./
Beverly Hills F.C./Columbia Univ. ’07)
Cadet Men’s Epee
Clayton Kenney (17, Denver, Colo./Cheyenne
Fencing)
Dwight Smith (16, Elmont, N.Y./Westbrook
Foundation/Dwight School)
Nicholas Chinman (15, Boulder, Colo./Northern
Colo. Fencers)
Alternate: Benjamin Wieder (16, Westfield, N.J./Medeo
Fencing)
Junior Men’s
Epee
Nicholas Chinman (15, Boulder, Colo./Northern
Colo. Fencers)
Benjamin Bratton (18, Richmond Hill, N.Y./Westbrook
Foundation/The Dwight School)
William Verigan (19, Wyckoff,
N.J./N.Y.A.C./Columbia ’06)
Team: Benjamin Ungar (18, New York, N.Y./N.Y.A.C./Bronx H.S.
of Science)
Cadet Men’s
Saber
Maximilian
Williams (15, Sacramento,
Calif./Luchetti Fencing Foundation)
Jonathan Berkowsky (15,
Sicklerville, N.J./Fencing Acad. of S. Jersey/Winslow
H.S.)
Matthew Kolasa
(17, Princeton, New Jersey/Fenc.
Acad. S. Jersey/Hun. School of Princeton)
Alternate: Anders Eiremo (16, Carmichael,
California/Sacramento F.C.)
Junior Men’s
Saber
Tim Hagamen (19, New
York, N.Y./Fencers Club/Harvard
’06)
Alex Krul (18, Thousand Oaks, Calif./Fencers
Club/Columbia ’07)
Michael Momtselidze (20, Columbus,
Ohio/Ohio Fencing Alliance)
Team: Adam Crompton (19, Irvington,
N.J./Westbrook Foundation/Ohio State Univ. ’06)
Cadet Women’s Saber
Caitlin Thompson (17, Portland, Ore./Oregon Fenc.
Alliance)
Rebecca Ward (14, Portland, Ore./Oregon Fenc.
Alliance/home school)
Daria Schneider (16, Brookline, Mass./Prise de
Fer)
Alternate: Dagmara Wozniak (15, Avenal,
N.J./Polish-American Fencing School)
Junior Women’s Saber
Caitlin Thompson (17, Portland, Ore./Oregon Fenc.
Alliance)
Mariel Zagunis (19, Beaverton, Ore./Oregon
Fencing Alliance)
Emily Jacobson (18, Fayetteville, Ga./Nellya
Fencers/Westminster Schools)
Team: Amelia Gaillard (20, Fayetteville,
Ga./Nellya Fencers)
COACHING
ROSTER
Michael
Itkin, Los Angeles, Calif.
Marcos Lucchetti, Sacramento, Calif.
Kornel Udvarhelyi, Middle Village, N.Y.
Gary Copeland,
Boulder, Colo.
Michael Pederson, San Francisco, Calif.
Michael Petin, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Yuri Gelman, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Edward Korfanty, Portland, Ore.
Arkady Burdan, Forest Park,
Ga.
Referee:
Charles Washburn II, Clifton Heights, Pa.
Chief Of Mission, Captain
Carl Borack, Los Angeles,
Calif.
Ass’t. Captain
Jim Carpenter, Celina,
Texas
Team Manager
Iana Dakova, Pittsburgh,
Pa.
Staff Liaison
Carla-Mae Richards,
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Armorer
Matthew Porter, Pacifica,
Calif.
Ass’t. Armorer
Cliff Iverson, Saint
Paul, Minn.
Trainer
Doug Rank, Redwood,
Wash.
F.I.E. Arbitrage Liason George Kolombatovich, New York, N.Y.