Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Olympic Fencing

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.