Pictured from left to right: Div. II Gold Medalist Lukas Siclare, coach Jed Dupree, and finalist A.J. Szilagyi.
Margaret Lu Takes Home Top Honors
ATLANTA, GA. - Six individual Division One national champions are crowned at the U.S. Summer National Championships at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga., July 4-13. Margaret Lu (Greenwich, Conn.) has become the sixth and final champ, winning the Division One Women's Foil title over Nicole Ross (New York, NY) in Thursday's final 15-7.
"I feel great, wonderful," Lu said. "I honestly did not expect this, no, definitely not."
It was the second 2010 national championship for Lu. She was the anchor of the gold medal-winning Empire United fencing team that won the under 19 Women's foil team competition on Monday. After fencing four events in five days, Lu can now rest and reflect on an amazing week.
"Today, I was just really sharp, really on," Lu said. "It was my fourth day of competing, so I'm really warmed up and tired, but ready to go. And I feel like I was really on today, really sharp, just got en garde for every point."
Lu's signature yell could be heard around the venue. Her passion for the sport was evident to all that watched her fence.
"I just love the sport," Lu said. "I love the combination of the physical aspect, the mental aspect, the fun, the joy, being with your friends, making a wonderful touch, preparing for it. Your work pays off, it feels really good."
Margaret further earned a third gold medal in these National Championships in the Under 16 Women's Foil Division. She was seeded first going into this tournament, came out first ranked after the preliminary bouts and ended up taking first out of a field of 133 girls. Congratulations to Margaret for her triple Gold!!
-An excerpt from a U.S. Fencing Association Press Release by Nicholas Olivier of the USFA dated July 8, 2010 as Summer Nationals Reaches Halfway Point in Atlanta
