Busy in the Beehive State at the 2017 Summer Nationals
Utah is known as the beehive state for its industrious citizens, and DCFC fencers followed suit when they descended on Salt Lake to compete in the 2017 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge on July 1-10.
This year’s Summer Nationals was set to break the record as the largest fencing tournament in history. The 10-day event drew an estimated 4,222 fencers from 47 states and 428 fencing clubs, likely surpassing the numbers set by the 12-day 2014 USA Fencing National Championships.
DCFC competitors young and young at heart experienced firsts in Salt Lake. Both Justin Haddad (Y14ME) and Theo Pary (Vet 70 ME) made their first visits to the Finals stage, both taking silver.
For veteran fencers Valerie Asher and Kaz Campe, their victories at Summer Nationals helped clinch their spots representing Team USA at the Veteran Fencing World Championships, to be held this October in Maribor, Slovenia.
We applaud Yunice Pyo and Justin Haddad, who were among more than 450 student fencers recognized for their academic achievement during the USA Fencing All-Academic Ceremony in Salt Lake City.
Haddad, Andrew Zhang, Sophia Jackel, and Grace Ma also received honorary regional patches for placing in the top three in their events (Y10/12/14) in the Capitol Division this season.
We salute all our fencers for getting in the game at Summer Nationals, with special congratulations to fencers who advanced to top eight spots.
Valerie Asher, silver, Vet 50 Women’s Epee
Rebecca Chimahusky, silver, Division 1A Women’s Epee
Theo Pary, silver, Vet 70 Men’s Epee
Justin Haddad, silver, Y14 Men’s Epee
Kaz Campe, bronze, Vet 70 Men’s Epee
Peter Souders, bronze, Division 1 Men’s Sabre
Amanda Sirico, seventh place, Division 1 Women’s Epee
Sophia Jakel , seventh place, Y10 Women’s Epee
Joe Deucher, seventh place, Vet 40 Men’s Epee
Peter Calderon, seventh place, Vet 70 Men’s Foil, eighth place, Vet 70 Men’s Sabre
A hearty thanks to our families and friends for your support, and to our coaches for your guidance. We also salute the bout committee, the referee cadre, and all the volunteers who made this mammoth fencing event possible.
Full results at USA Fencing.
Enjoy a photo album of DCFC fencers at Summer Nationals at the DCFC Facebook page.
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