Twelve fencers represented Alliance Fencing
Academy at the Junior Olympics in Denver, CO, the event that concludes
the 2006-7 cadet and junior season. Our girls brought home two gold
medals, one silver medal, one bronze medal, and a 5th place medal, plus
Andrey got his 5th gold medal as a coach! We also had several near
misses for better placement and with experience and more training and
preparation we’ll do even better at our next “big” event, the Summer
National Championships in July. The hard work of Andrey and of Sabina
with our foilists continues to bear fruits for all our fencers.
Congratulation to our medallist!!!
Brandfield-Harvey, Neely
Gold Medal, Junior Women's
Epee
Silver Medal, Cadet Women's Epee
Bassa, Francesca
Gold Medal, Cadet Women's Epee
Bronze Medal, Junior Women's
Epee
Bazarbayeva, Dina
5 place, Cadet Women's Epee
Cadet Women's Epee
133 fencers, A3 event
Three ladies, two of them with one more year as
cadet, competed in this event: Francesca Alexandra Bassa, Dina
Bazarbayeva, and Neely Brandfield-Harvey. This was the first gold and
silver event for Alliance and by a hair it could have been also a
bronze, having all our girls #1, 2, and 3.
Neely and Dina had a 6-0 and Francesca 5-1 in pools. After pools our
three girls were seeded #1T, #6, and #13 respectively. All three got a
bye for the first DE. Dina won comfortably 15-7 her first DE, struggled
a bit but pulled it off the next one 15-14 and won 15-11 her entry in
top 8. Neely’s DE’ to top 8 were 13-11, 15-14, and 15-14. Francesca had
a great run at 15-7, 15-4, and 15-3 to make her entry in top 8.
The seeding was such that our 3 girls did not have to meet in the first
round, but unfortunately Dina missed her chance for a color medal 14-15.
Neely won her quarterfinal bout 15-6, and the semifinal 15-9. Francesca
won her quarterfinal bout 15-8 and her semifinal 15-6. The final bout
was an Alliance affair between Francesca and Neely which Francesca won
15-6. In all her bouts to the gold, Francesca never allowed her
opponents to finish closer than a 7 points deficit. It was a good day
for her, for Alliance and for Andrey who earned the gold coach medal!
In this event we had five fencers: Francesca Bassa
(16), Dina Bazarbayeva (15), Neely Brandfield-Harvey (17), Erin Pytel
(17), and Stephanie Wheeler (17). Francesca and Dina are cadet for one
more year and Neely was at her last national competition as cadet.
In pools Neely and Stephanie had a 6-0 record; Dina and Erin 5-1, but
Francesca with a 3-3 record was really struggling with a sinus problem
and a fever. Seeding after pools: Neely #4, Stephanie #6, Dina #18, Erin
#23, and Francesca #87T. All of them made the cut to DE.
In DE, Erin once again had difficulty to convert her great performance
in pools to the 15 points bout. She lost her first DE 9-15. Dina won
easily her first two DE’s 15-11 and 15-7, but then lost 13-15 to Rebecca
Moss for top 16. Stephanie also won her first two DE’s 15-10 and 15-12,
but lost the next bout 13-15 for top 16. Neely won her DE’s 15-4, 15-9,
15-9, and 15-13, making to top 8. Francesca, after her poor performance
in pools, started to feel better and won her DE’s 15-12, 15-9, 15-9, and
15-7, making into top 8 and feeling better in the process.
Neely won her quarter final bout 15-12 and Francesca continued her
strong performance with a victory of 15-8. It looked like we could have
another showdown for the gold between our two girls, but it was not to
be. In the semifinals both faced their opponents (the French twins) in
the supplementary minute, tied 10-10 for Neely and 7-7 for Francesca.
The last touch went for Neely and against Francesca. Neely then won the
final 15-13 against Kayley French.
Final placements:
1 Brandfield-Harvey Neely GULFCST TX A2006 A07
2 French Kayley A NORTH TEX A2007
3T French Christa M NORTH TEX A2007 3T Bassa Francesca GULFCST TX A2006 A07
5 Safford Hannah R NORTH CA A2006 A07
6 Leader Brittany A INDIANA A2005 A07
7 Huspeni Elaine R COLORADO B2005 A07
8 Baranov Miriam COLUMBUSOH D2006 A07
18 Wheeler Stephanie GULFCST TX B2007
22 Bazarbayeva Dina GULFCST TX A2006
66 Pytel Erin M GULFCST TX C2006
Cadet Men’s Epee
238 fencers, A4 event
Alliance was represented by Ben Freiman
(14) and Nathan Sorensen (17). Ben still a Y-14 fencer.
Nathan won all his pool bouts. Ben 4-2. Seeding after pools: Nathan tied
for 12th, and Ben 92nd. Both made the cut for the DE rounds.
In the first DE Ben lost his first bout 13-15. Nathan, who had a bye,
won easily his next three DE’s 15-8, 15-6, and 15-12 respectively. Then,
to make it in top 8 he lost the momentum in his bout (12-15) against
Kian Ameli, and a trip to the podium. Nathan is coming up strong and
needs to work few rough spots, but his progress is constant.
Final placements:
1 Dolezal Joshua M INDIANA A2007
2 Raynis Michael A SO. CALIF. A2007
3T Ameli Kian NEVADA A2006 A07
3T Carnahan Garrett M SO. CALIF. A2006 A07
5 Silver Josh D OREGON A2007
6 Gurnowski Eric T NEW JERSEY A2006 A07
7 Ballew Grant TENNESSEE B2006 A07
8 Andrews Stephen D COLORADO C2006 A07
10 Sorensen Nathan G GULFCST TX A2006
133 Freiman Benjamin D GULFCST TX C2005
Junior Men’s Epee
228 fencers, A4 event
This was a very strong event with 60 A-ranked
fencers. Four of our young men, two still cadets, competed: Zoltan Krudy
(18), Dillon Smith (18), Nathan Sorensen (17), and Daniel Trapani (18).
In pool rounds Daniel had a 6-0 record; Nathan 5-1; Dillon and Zoltan
4-2. Seeding after pools: Daniel was #5, Nathan #13, Dillon
#47, and Zoltan #58T.
In DE Zoltan had a bye, won his next bout
10-9 and then lost the next one 14-15 to a very strong experienced
fencer. Similar fate befell on Dillon who also had a bye, won the first
bout 15-11 and the next one against James Kaull (the winner of the World
Cup Tournament in Montreal in January) he lost 11-12. Nathan had a bye
also and won the first two bouts 15-11 and 15-12, but lost the next one
8-15 for top 16. Daniel after his first bye, won the first bout 15-7 and
overwhelmed his opponent 8-1 in the next. Then he too missed the top 16
just by a hair, losing 10-11. Final placements:
1 Harder Sean C COLUMBUS OH A2006 A07
2 Wicas Graham E PHILADEL PH A2006 A07
3T Casertano Lorenzo O METRO NYC A2007
3T Duncan Corwin CAPITOL A2006 A07
5 Dolezal Joshua M INDIANA A2007
6 Smith Dwight A METRO NYC A2007
7 Gay Samuel R CENTRAL PA A2005 A07
8 Larsen Samuel F.B CENTRAL PA A2006 A07
17 Trapani Daniel K GULFCST TX A2007
21 Sorensen Nathan G GULFCST TX A2006
45 Smith Dillon S GULFCST TX A2006
51 Krudy Zoltan A GULFCST TX A2007
Cadet Men's Foil
228 fencers, A4 event
Junior Men's Foil
218 fencers, A4 event
We have a number of foil fencers in our club
“raised” by Sabina Bazarbayeva. Our foil program is growing and
we expect in the years to come to compete for national attention with
our established epee programs. Our foilists are young or have been
fencing for a relatively short time but are showing continuous
improvement on the local, regional, and national circuit. Robert Wooley (16) has been fencing for just 2 years and he was
our entry in the cadet competition which had 21 A’s, 40 B’s, 48 C’s, 33
D’s, 45 E’s, and 41 U’s. Robert performed admirably in pools with a 5-1
record and a +16 indicator, he was the first of his pool. Robert was
seeded #33 after pools.
He had a bye in DE but fell short 12-15 at his next bout. Disappointing
as this might be, he was however the top finisher at this event for all
Gulf Coast Division cadets. With more experience we expect him to
continuously improve.
Final standing: 66
In junior event Robert had a 2-4 record in pools,
losing one bout 4-5. He was seeded 143T into DE’s. In his first DE
Robert won 15-12 but then lost the next one 7-15 to a more experienced
fencer.
Final placement: 118
Cadet Women's Foil
169 fencers, A4 event
Junior Women's Foil
161 fencers, A4 event
Kara Collins (16) and Nicola Horscroft
(17) are our two ladies foilists who competed in this cadet event. In
pools Nicola had a 2-4 record, Kara a 4-1. After pools Kara was seeded
44T and Nicola 116. In DE’s Nicola had a bye but lost her next bout
7-15. Kara had also a bye, won her next bout 14-12, but hen lost the
next one. Kara has been fencing for less than two years and has shown
continuous improvement this season. Kara was the top finisher in all
Gulf Coast Division, the only one to make it to top 64.
Final placement: Kara Collins - 43T, Nicola
Horscroft - 116
Once more our two courageous ladies, Kara and Nicola tried their best in
their junior competition. Nicola had a hard time in pools with a 1-5
record. Kara had a 2-4 record with one loss 4-5. After pools Kara at 106
made the cut but Nicola at 143 did not. Kara had a bye in DE, but lost
the next bout 7-15. They were the only representatives of the Gulf Coast
Division in this event and with more experience in these types of
competitions they will do better next time.
Final placement: Kara - 107, Nicola - 143
Traveling notes
All our fencers enjoyed the trip to Denver and the
festivities. We had several team dinners to celebrate the medals and the
results of everyone. Our team dinners are getting popular and many of
our friends from around the country and those who come visit and train
with us are joining our team celebrations. We have fun and we love to
have fun. Only problem is to get enough sleep before an early start the
next day. Some are lucky when they have a late start others have to show
up at warm-up practice at 7 a.m.! Only Andrey seems to be able to
function with no sleep and still help everyone in need of a good word or
advice on how to handle a difficult situation…
Thank you Andrey and Sabina for your work
and passion!
We look forward to Summer Nationals in Miami!
