US Rosters for Junior and Cadet Worlds Announced

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Written by Cecil Bleiker
Thursday, 12 March 2009
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.– The United States Fencing Association has finalized the team and cadre for the 2009 Cadet and Junior World Fencing Championships which will be held April 4-13 in Belfast, Ireland. Leading the U.S. squad will be 2008 U.S. Olympic Team member Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif./South Bend, Ind.). Meinhardt, the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer ever at 18 years-of-age and now a freshman at the University of Notre Dame, will compete in the Junior Men’s Foil event. Meinhardt reached the round of 16 at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Three members of Team USA will compete in both the Junior and Cadet categories. Nzihgha Prescod and Lee Kiefer will represent the U.S. in Junior and Cadet Women’s Foil and Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) will compete in Junior and Cadet Men’s Foil. Massialas is the son of U.S. Olympian and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Coach (Men’s Foil) Greg Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.). Also of note, Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), the sister of 2008 U.S. Olympian Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas/South Bend, Ind.), will be competing in Junior Women’s Epee. Two coaches from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for Fencing, Ed Korfanty and Mike Pederson, will be coaching the U.S. Junior and Cadet fencers at the 2009 Junior and Cadet World Championships. Currently in her freshman year at Duke University, Becca Ward (Portland, Ore.), the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in both individual and team women’s sabre, declined her position in Junior Women’s Sabre. Please see below for the complete U.S. Fencing Team Roster for the 2009 Junior and Cadet World Championships as well as Cadre/Team Staff: Junior Women’s Foil Nzihgha Prescod(Brooklyn, N.Y.) Lee Kiefer(Versailles, Ky.) Nicole Ross(New York, N.Y.) Epiphany Georges(Brooklyn, N.Y./Team Event) Junior Women’s Epee Courtney Hurley(San Antonio, Texas) Susannah Scanlan(St. Paul, Minn.) Francesca Bassa(Houston, Texas) Hannah Safford(San Francisco, Calif./Team Event) Junior Women’s Sabre Monica Aksamit(Matawan, N.J.) Caroline Vloka(Upper Saddle River, N.J.) Diamond Wheeler(Portland, Ore.) Lian Bianca Osier(Battle Ground, Wash./Team Event) Junior Men’s Foil Gerek Meinhardt(San Francisco, Calif./South Bend, Ind.) Alexander Massialas(San Francisco, Calif.) Miles Chamley-Watson(Philadelphia, Pa.) Zain Shaito(Garland, Texas/Team Event) Junior Men’s Epee Kevin Mo(Irvine, Calif.) Corwin Duncan(College Park, Md.) James Kaull(Washington, D.C.) Adam Watson(Richford, Vt./Team Event) Junior Men’s Sabre Barron Nydam(Solano Beach, Calif./South Bend, Ind.) Avery Zuck(South Bend, Ind.) Daryl Homer(New York, N.Y.) Bryan Cheney(Team Event) Cadet Women’s Foil Nzihgha Prescod(Brooklyn, N.Y.) Lee Kiefer(Versailles, Ky.) Margaret L.C. Lu(Greenwich, Conn.) Cadet Women’s Epee Katharine Holmes(Washington, D.C.) Grace Neveu(San Francisco, Calif.) Sarah Collins(Palm Harbor, Fla.) Cadet Women’s Sabre Diamond Wheeler(Portland, Ore.) Nicole Glon(State College, Pa.) Celina Merza(Wayne, N.J.) Cadet Men’s Foil Alexander Massialas(San Francisco, Calif.) Jeremy Goldstein(Westport, Conn.) Wilfred Curioso(Barrington, R.I.) Cadet Men’s Epee Jake Harbour(Santa Fe, N.M.) Gavin Medley(Santa Fe, N.M.) Peregrine Badger(Providence, R.I.) Cadet Men’s Sabre Michael Mills(Milburn, N.J.) Alexander Ryjik(Alexandria, Va.) Will Spear(Wynantskill, N.Y.) Cadre/Team Staff: Coaches: Men’s Sabre: Alex Ryjik (Cadet) and Dmitriy Guy (Junior) Women’s Epee: Maureen Griffin(Cadet) and Ro Sobalvarro (Junior) Women’s Sabre: Ed Korfanty Women’s Foil: Mike Pederson Men’s Foil: Michael Itkin Men’s Epee: James Odom (Cadet) and Boris Vaksman (Junior) Head of Delegation: Andrea Lagan Team Captain: Jim Carpenter Team Manager: Alan Kuver Armorers: Scott Harkey and Bill Murphy Athletic Trainers: Nick Tobianski and Brian Hardy