North American Cup

Dallas, TX

November 9-12, 2007

Alliance Fencing Academy had excellent results at the second NAC of the 2007-8 fencing season. Sixteen fencers plus Daniel Trapani of the US Air Force Academy but who lists Alliance as his secondary club, competed in eight different events, Junior and Cadet epee and foil, men and women, and Youth 14 epee men and women. Our athletes brought home four medals. But the real story of this NAC is how well everybody performed and the national points earned by many, some for their first time. Competitive fencing at national level means to earn national points and our athletes did very well.
We also had some high drama when Dina had to be rushed to the ER with a suspected appendicitis. Fortunately, after spending 17 hours at the hospital with Andrey watching over her, she recovered and did very well 36 hours later in the Junior competition. Dina could not finish her DEs in Cadet competition because of this incident.

Congratulations to our medalists!!!

Bazarbayeva, Dina

Silver Medal, Junior Women's Epee

Bassa, Francesca

5 place, Cadet Women's Epee
5 place, Junior Women's Epee

Trapani, Daniel

8 place, Junior Men's Epee

Junior Women's Epee (126 fencers, A4 event)

We had six fencers in this event: Francesca Alexandra Bassa, Dina Bazarbayeva, Neely Brandfield-Harvey, Kara Collins, Nicola Horscroft, and Gaby Rios. This was Dina’s day after her scare two days earlier and she came back roaring. After pools Dina was #1 and Francesca #2. They, plus the “new” epeeist Kara made it to the repêchage round, Kara in particular was remarkable since she barely made the cut after pools but then fenced very well in a tough bracket. This shows how well her hard work in the club is paying. Neely who usually does very well at national tournaments didn't have a very good day this time. She lost two bouts in her pool and then unexpected she lost her first DE bout for the top 64. Gaby and Nicola who are very new in national epee events both won only one bout on their pools and didn't make it to the DE round. Francesca made it all the way with victories in top 8. In her quarterfinal bout she lost to the same French girl she had previously defeated in her DE bout for the top 8. Dina had a minor stumble to make it in top 8 losing to Courtney Hurley, got back into the game and defeated US national team member Susie Scanlan from Minnesota 15:7, then she won her quarterfinal and semifinal bouts against Kalley French (15:9) and Christa French (15:9) respectively. In the final again against Courtney Hurley she lost 9:15, but got the silver medal.

Final placement

1 Hurley Courtney L SO. TEXAS A2007
2 Bazarbayeva Dina A GULFCST TX A2007
3T French Christa M NORTH TEX A2007
3T D'Agostino Emily N OREGON A2007
5 Bassa Francesca GULFCST TX A2007
6 Holmes Katharine CAPITOL B2007 A07
7 Henderson Danielle A NEW JERSEY A2007
8 French Kayley A NORTH TEX A2007
24 Collins Kara'lina GULFCST TX B2007
66 Brandfield-Harvey Neely GULFCST TX A2007
114 Rios Barbara GULFCST TX U

117 Horscroft Nicola A GULFCST TX E2007

Cadet Women's Epee (119 fencers, A3)

Alliance was represented by Francesca Alexandra Bassa, Dina Bazarbayeva, Kara Collins, and Gaby Rios in this event which was characterized by the drama of Dina being rushed to the hospital accompanied by Andrey. Kara made it to top 32 earning national points as did Francesca.

Final placement:

1 Gegan Natalie X SO. CALIF. A2007
2 Eldeib Nadia S VIRGINIA A2007
3T Caldwell Phoebe G ALABAMA A2007
3T Safford Hannah R NORTH CA A2007
5 Bassa Francesca GULFCST TX A2007
6 D'Agostino Emily N OREGON A2007
7 Foster Channing L CAPITOL D2007 B07
8 Strass Gabrielle SO. TEXAS B2006 B07
30 Collins Kara'lina GULFCST TX B2007
36 Bazarbayeva Dina A GULFCST TX A2007
109 Rios Barbara GULFCST TX U

Division III Men's Epee (81 fencers, C3 event)

Only Robert Wooley represented ALL in this event with 1 C, 24 Ds, 28 Es, and 28 Us. In pools Robert was 3-3 (one loss 4-5). In DEs after a bye, Robert struggled for a 15-14 victory but then changed gear and won the next two DEs 15-10 and 15-4 to get in the final 8. He lost the quarterfinal bout 11-15 to the eventual winner of this competition. Great performance by Robert who earned a D-07 in this national competition.

Final placement:

1 Shipp Royce J UTAH/S.IDA D2007 C07
2 Klunk Marc A NO. COAST E2007 C07
3T Burke Danny T NEW JERSEY D2007 C07
3T Wade Benjamin S NO. COAST U C07
5 Harrington Brooks E BORDER TEX D2006 D07
6 Cardinale Simon B NEW MEXICO E2007 D07
7 Wooley Robert B GULFCST TX E2007 D07
8 Shapiro Kevin M ILLINOIS D2006 D07

Division II Men's Epee (71 fencers, B3)

Only Jack Hudson competed in this event with 1 B, 30 Cs, 19 Ds, 10 Es, and 11 Us. In pools Jack was 4-2 (one bout 4-5). In DEs Jack had a bye and then won 15-13 and 12-11 but lost 10-15 to top 8. A good performance by our young athlete who keeps growing both physically and in his fencing.
Final placement: 15th

Cadet Men's Epee (127 fencers, A3 event)

Two Alliance fencers competed in this event, Ben Freiman and Jack Hudson, which included 9 As, 30 Bs, 32 Cs, 19 Ds, 17 Es, and 20 Us. In pools Ben finished 1-4 with two bouts lost 4-5. Jack was 2-4 in pools and he also lost two bouts 4-5. Ben unfortunately missed the cut by 2 spots. Bad luck continued with Jack’s first DE where he lost 14-15. Next time they will have just a bit more luck and do much better.
Final placement: Hudson - 78th, Freiman - 104th

Division II Men's Foil (131 fencers, B3 event)

Division III Women's Foil (79 fencers, C3 events)

Robert Wooley and Kara Collins weir our only fencer in these events. In pools Robert was 4-2. In DEs Robert had a bye and won decisively his first bout 13-6, but lost the next one 7-15 getting few red cards for non working fencing equipment. Robert took 45th place.
Kara, at her third competition in four days was 4-2 after pools. In DE, Kara had a bye but then lost 10-15. She took 34th place.

Coaches Notes

This was the first NAC of the new fencing season. It was to be a warm-up for the more important competitions in the months to come until JOs. Andrey did not come to this event and our fencers fought their way on their own. Bravo to all, in particular to our new star athlete Kara and to Robert for their performances in the new (for them) weapon.

Go Alliance! Thank you Andrey and Sabina!

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