I was going to go to the Charm City, but with a week to go it looked as if it wouldn't have enough women to fence separate events, and there was a strong mixed veteran at MFC in New York, so I took the train up.
It was gray out and a light rain was misting, and when I got to the club it was hot, close, and humid. Practice was winding down with all the young fencers, and it was crowded. I wasn't in the mood to begin with, and being that hot made me tired. However, I pulled myself together.
I bouted a little with Donna Pepe and Bonnie Aher beforehand. Bonnie has really improved her sabre. She says there's really only one good epee night at her club these days so she's been doing more sabre. Donna, as always, is a strong competitor and I am glad I'm aging out of the 50's before she ages in.
The field was pretty good--A B1, 15 people including Bonnie, Donna, Jeannine Bender, Dmitri Kopylov, Paul Apostol, Richard Brown, Vincent Paragano, Ellen Heasley, and a guy I have run into in veteran events over the last year or so, Albert Benzimra, and a guy I met at a veteran Liberty Cup last year, Paul Rosenthal. Compared to the last one of these I did, it was quite strong--last time, I was in a pool with a bunch of U-rated men.
This time I had a pool with a C, a D, an E, and a U. Much better. Jeannine, Jim Bernitt, Paul, and Gerard Owens. Melvin refereed, which was nice because I know what I'm doing with him. Jeannine beat me 5-3 very nicely because she wasn't rushing, but I only allowed two touches against me otherwise and came out seeded 4th.
My first DE was against Michael Jacobson from Candlewood, who didn't know me and was therefore surprised he wasn't doing better. I beat him 10-4. Later, he talked with me and politely asked what I was ranked in the country, and said he felt much better. It was actually a strong tournament.
My second was against Donna Pepe, who had just beaten Werner Jansen from Mission in her first DE, coming from behind to beat him 10-7. She practices against guys a whole lot and has a great game against that, but as she and I discussed afterwards she has a hard time with people like me (and like Dmitri, for that matter) who don't rush in. I told her some things to do (I'm not crazy--she will never be in my veteran age group!). The score on that one was 10-3.
Unfortunately, because I had lost a bout in my pool, I had Dmitri (seeded first) for the next bout (the semi-final). Tiki Kastor was our referee, and she had a hard time keeping track of the score and reversed enough calls that I'm really not sure what the final score was; however, I was pleased with my fencing--I lost 9-10.
The final was between Dmitri and Paul Apostol, and Dmitri won it 10-9 with Arabella Uhry refereeing. Arabella did a very workmanlike job; despite her diminutive stature and tiny frame (she's almost 14), she has good strip presence and dealt well with the two men.
Though Vince lost to Paul, I think he finally earned his C! I hope so. He's been within a whisker several times.
Jeannine and I hiked back to Penn Station together because we were taking the same train--she lives in Princeton and I change in Trenton for the local to Philadelphia. We had a great time talking all the way to Princeton. I really miss having her around at the club.
As usual Julia Gelman runs a tight tournament and makes everybody happy. They had MFC T-shirts for the top four and when I said I preferred a medium and Paul wanted an extra-large, she went and got them for us.
11-14-2009 08:39 PM