Div II/III Combined Qualifiers

[German Tip]

I was at the NJ Division Div II/III combined Summer National qualifier last week. While everyone understood the qualification rules for Div III, I could not find one fencer who understood the Div III qualification rules in this combined event. I heard a few complaints about people being knocked out by C rated fencers, but in the end there were a lot of happy people who unexpectedly qualified for Div III.

Was there a rule change in September 2008 that allowed the significant increase in Div III qualifiers? Here is a summary of how it worked:

Div II
- Top 25% qualified

Div III
- C rated fencers were removed from the results
- 25% of the remaining fencers qualified
- D, E & U fencers who qualified for Div II, auto qualified for Div III, and were skipped

For example – 44 total fencers, 4 had a C rating and all qualified for Div II

Div II
- 11 qualified (7 were rated D or under, the other 4 were Cs)

Div III
- 10 qualified (25% of the 40 remaining fencers after the 4 Cs were eliminated)
- The first 7 were auto qualifiers, so they were skipped and the next 10 qualified for Div III
- Thus a total of 17 of 40 eligible fencers qualified for Div III

[foilwatcher]

I was at the NJ Division Div II/III combined Summer National qualifier last week. While everyone understood the qualification rules for Div III, I could not find one fencer who understood the Div III qualification rules in this combined event. I heard a few complaints about people being knocked out by C rated fencers, but in the end there were a lot of happy people who unexpectedly qualified for Div III.

Was there a rule change in September 2008 that allowed the significant increase in Div III qualifiers? Here is a summary of how it worked:

Div II
- Top 25% qualified

Div III
- C rated fencers were removed from the results
- 25% of the remaining fencers qualified
- D, E & U fencers who qualified for Div II, auto qualified for Div III, and were skipped

For example – 44 total fencers, 4 had a C rating and all qualified for Div II

Div II
- 11 qualified (7 were rated D or under, the other 4 were Cs)

Div III
- 10 qualified (25% of the 40 remaining fencers after the 4 Cs were eliminated)
- The first 7 were auto qualifiers, so they were skipped and the next 10 qualified for Div III
- Thus a total of 17 of 40 eligible fencers qualified for Div III

Kind of complicated the way you described it, but sounds right, The rules, simply, are:

DIVISION III
Fencers must have a classification in the weapon of “D”, “E” or Unclassified at the time of the
qualifying competition AND meet age requirements as above AND –
 Place in the top 25% (see Chapter 2.7 for detailed chart) of the total number of “D”, “E”
or “U” fencers competing in the current season Division’s Division II Qualifying
competition (when Division II and Division III qualifying competition held together)

And, yes, Div II qualifiers who are not "C's", get an auto qualifier to Div III in this situation.

[oiuyt]

To answer the other part of your question, yes there was a change made in September. It partially reversed a change made two years ago.

It is easier to qualify to D3 this year than last, but not as easy as prior to the first change.

-B

[tkexi991]

But why isn't Div II still a cascade event for Div III for everyone? GA DIV has seperate II/III events, but if you qualify for II and have a rough day in III (it happens), then boom - just Div II for you.

[epeemike81]

But why isn't Div II still a cascade event for Div III for everyone? GA DIV has seperate II/III events, but if you qualify for II and have a rough day in III (it happens), then boom - just Div II for you.

this is not true anymore. Qualifying to Div II is a qualification path for Div III as of the September BOD meeting.

-m

[tkexi991]

this is not true anymore. Qualifying to Div II is a qualification path for Div III as of the September BOD meeting.

-m

Fair enough. Would have been nice when I still had a D though...

[German Tip]

To answer the other part of your question, yes there was a change made in September. It partially reversed a change made two years ago.

It is easier to qualify to D3 this year than last, but not as easy as prior to the first change.

Can you explain the change made two years ago? I tried the USFA site, but I could only find the current Athlete handbook and I didn't know where else to look. I am curious.

[oiuyt]

Can you explain the change made two years ago? I tried the USFA site, but I could only find the current Athlete handbook and I didn't know where else to look. I am curious.

Two years ago a change was made removing all trickle-down qualifications to senior events.

Qualifying for IA no longer made one a qualifier for II.
Qualifying for II no longer made one a qualifier for III.
Qualifying for cadet or junior no longer made one a qualifier for II (and, through that, III).

The first two of those were restored in September.

-B