Empire United Fencing

Lu Takes Top Honors

sean — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:03:39 +0000

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

EUF’s Medal Count and Full Results at Summer National Championships

sean — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:13:07 +0000

7 Golds, 3 Bronze Medals and 8 Top 8 Medals!
Congratulations to all our Medalists and everyone else who achieved
their personal bests.

EUF Fencers Come Home with 18 Medals in Both Individual and Team Events at the Recently Concluded USA Fencing Summer National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia

Gold Medalists:

Margaret Lu - Division 1 Women’s Foil
Margaret Lu, April Whitney, Samantha Lee, Heather Szilagyi - Under 19 Women’s Foil Team
Race Imboden, Brian Kaneshige, Michael Woo, Shaun-chi Lee - Under 19 Men’s Foil Team
Alen Hadzic, Brian Ro, Anthony Green, Hikari Senju - Under 19 Men’s Epee Team
Margaret Lu - Under 16 Women’s Foil
Lukas Siclare - Division 2 Men’s Foil
Michelle Verhave - Vet 50-60 Women’s Epee

Bronze Medalists:

Andras Horanyi - Division 1 Men’s Foil
Race Imboden - Under 19 Men’s Foil
Michelle Verhave - Vet 50-60 Women’s Foil

Top 8 Finalists:

Margaret Lu, 8th Place - Under 19 Women’s Foil
Michael Woo, 8th Place - Under 19 Men’s Foil
April Whitney, 5th Place - Div1A Women’s Foil
Brian Ro, 5th Place - Under 16 Men’s Epee
Adam Mathieu, T6th Place - Under 16 Men’s Foil
Harry Bergman, T6th Place - Under 16 Men’s Foil
AJ Szilagyi, 5th Place - Division 2 Men’s Foil
AJ Szilagyi, 5th Place - Y14 Men’s Foil

Special Mention to our Men’s Senior Foil Team who lost by one touch in the bout for Bronze:
Henry Kennard, Race Imboden, Sam Wunderlich, Sherif Farrag

A complete list of results from the Summer National Championships:

EUF RESULTS
2010 SUMMER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSIPS
ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Division 1 Men’s Epee (55 Competitors)
17 Ro Brian
33 Hadzic Alen
47 Vomero Nicholas T

Division 1 Men’s Foil (63 Competitors)
3 T Horanyi Andras M
9 Kennard Henry B
13 Kaneshige Brian K
17 Imboden Race A
21 Mathieu Adam
25 T Wunderlich Samuel R
37 Farrag Sherif G
49 Woo Michael J
50 Bergman Harrison

Division 1 women’s Foil (43 Competitors)
1 Lu Margaret L

Division 1A Men’s Epee (122 Competitors)
106 Senju Hikari

Division 1A Men’s Foil (99 Competitors)
37 Doherty Justin P
41 Zambrano III Victor H
64 Szilagyi Alexander
73 Samora Jose G
78 Siclare Lukas S
90 Abdelaziz Hisham A

Division 1A Women’s Foil (74 Competitors)
5 Whitney April V
53 Verhave Michelle A
59 Abdelaziz Nadine A

Division 2 Men’s Foil (140 Competitors)
1 Siclare Lukas S
5 Szilagyi Alexander
14 Abdelaziz Hisham A
65 Kong II David
66 Doherty Justin P
68 Marino Geoffrey T

Division 2 Women’s Foil (122 Competitors)
15 Lee Samantha H
47 Abdelaziz Nadine A
64 Szilagyi Heather J

Division 3 Men’s Epee (168 Competitors0
17 Rowland Hudson G

Division 3 Men’s Foil (159 Competitors)
63 Rizzi Michael L

Division 3 Women’s Foil (112 Competitors)
24 Szilagyi Heather J

Under 16 Men’s Epee (148 Competitors)
5 Ro Brian
41 Xu Albert L

Under 16 Men’s Foil (143 Competitors)
6 T Mathieu Adam
8 Bergman Harrison
11 Woo Michael J
12 Koppel Willem C
25 Lee Justin
39 T Szilagyi Alexander
49 Fields Carroll R
55 T Kong II David
78 Upbin William
131 Doherty James

Under 16 Women’s Foil (133 Competitors)
1 Lu Margaret L
50 Lee Samantha H
68 Abdelaziz Nadine A

Under 19 Men’s Epee (134 Competitors)
17 Hadzic Alen
117 Ro Brian
118 Senju Hikari

Under 19 Men’s Foil (124 Competitors)
3 T Imboden Race A
8 Woo Michael J
10 Kaneshige Brian K
36 Lee Justin
40 Mathieu Adam
44 T Bergman Harrison
56 Weiss James A
57 Lee Shaun-Chi
80 Szilagyi Alexander
99 Doherty Justin P
106 Koppel Willem C
113 Zambrano III Victor H

Under 19 Women’s Foil (93 Competitors)
8 Lu Margaret L
29 Lee Samantha H
31 Whitney April V

Youth 10 Boys Foil (115 Competitors)
55 Fields River M

Youth 12 Boys Foil (191 Competitors)
14 Fields Carroll R
23 T Upbin William

Youth 14 Boys Foil (209 Competitors)
5 Szilagyi Alexander
14 Kong II David
42 Fields Carroll R
68 Doherty James
75 Upbin William
97 Rizzi Joseph

Vet 50-59 Women’s Epee (24 Competitors)
1 Verhave Michelle A

Vet 50-59 Women’s Foil (24 competitors)
3 T Verhave Michelle A

Sectional Champions 2010

sean — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:17:26 +0000

WE CONGRATULATE THE FOLLOWING EUF FENCERS WHO PLACED IN THE TOP 8 OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!

APRIL WHITNEY - GOLD MEDALIST
SENIOR WOMEN’S FOIL
NORTH ATLANTIC SECTION

SAMANTHA LEE - GOLD MEDALIST
JUNIOR WOMEN’S FOIL
NORTH ATLANTIC SECTION

ADAM MATHIEU - GOLD MEDALIST
JUNIOR MEN’S FOIL
MID ATLANTIC SECTION

LUKAS SICLARE - SILVER MEDALIST
SENIOR MEN’S FOIL
MID ATLANTIC SECION

JAMES WEISS - BRONZE MEDALIST
JUNIOR MEN’S FOIL
NORTH ATLANTIC SECTION

JUSTIN DOHERTY- 6th PLACE
JUNIOR MENS FOIL
NORTH ATLANTIC SECTION

College Acceptances

sean — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:00:44 +0000

We would like to congratulate the following graduating seniors and wish them the best of luck as they journey on to College.

Alen Hadzic - Columbia University
Anthony Green - Penn State University
April Whitney - Cornell University
Brendon Verhave - Cornell University
Geoffrey Marino - University of Michigan
Hisham Abdelaziz - Rutgers University
James Weiss - Drew University
Michael Rizzi - Farmingdale State University
Peter Cohen - Yale University
Rowland Hudson - Boston University
Shaun-chi Lee - SUNY, Binghamton
Victor Zambrano - St. John’s University

To celebrate our fencers’ amazing achievements this past Season, and to honor the above High School Seniors, we invite everyone to join us in a summer picnic indoors at the club on Sunday, June 6, starting at 3 pm.

EUF at Virginia Beach

sean — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:20:35 +0000

In between walks by the ocean and the fencing competitions, EUF families had a great time at the last North American Cup of the season in Virginia Beach over the past weekend. We would like to congratulate our EUF fencers who all put their best foot forward in this Division 1 as well as Youth tournament. Margaret Lu earned a Bronze medal in a field of 89 fencers in the Division 1 Women’s Foil competition, while Race Imboden and Brian Kaneshige tied for 6th in Division 1 Men’s Foil. Out of 170 competitors in this Division, 17 were EUF fencers, an outstanding 10% of the field, which we believe is a USFA record.
Our Youth fencers were well represented with 8 young men competing in 3 age groups. Carroll (Rusty) Fields earned a Bronze medal in Y12 Boy’s Foil out of a field of 90. We also like to welcome into the world of fencing competitions our youngest competitors, River Fields and Luis (Yani) Quisumbing, both 8 year olds, who competed in their first NAC in Y10 Boy’s Foil.
Here is a complete list of results:

Division 1 Men’s Epee
(218 Competitors)

11 Hadzic Alen
29 Ro Brian
93 Xu Albert
205 Senju Hikari

Division 1 Men’s Foil
(170 competitors)

6 Kaneshige Brian K
6 Imboden Race A
17 Kennard Henry B
39 Woo Michael J
65 Farrag Sherif G
67 Kershaw Clinton E
77 Wunderlich Samuel R
81 Mathieu Adam
90 Siclare Lukas S
91 Szilagyi Alexander
96 Lee Justin
119 Koppel Willem C
121 Doherty Justin
142 Bergman Harrison
146 Kong II David
149 Samora Jose G
160 Abdelaziz Hisham A

Division 1 Women’s Foil
(89 competitors)

3 Lu Margaret L
38 Whitney April V
54 Lee Samantha H
85 Verhave Michelle A
89 Abdelaziz Nadine A

Y14 Men’s Foil
(137 competitors)

16 Kong II David
24 Szilagyi Alexander
42 Upbin William M
46 Fields Carroll (Rusty)
66 Rizzi Joseph R
86 Doherty James

Y12 Boy’s Foil
(90 competitors)

3 Fields Carroll (Rusty)
33 Upbin William M

Y10 Boy’s Foil
(64 competitors)

37 Fields River M
43 Quisumbing Luis (Yani)

Cadet and Junior National Teams to World Championships

sean — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:16:39 +0000

In addition to numerous domestic and international competitions designated by the US Fencing Association, the Junior Olympics is the final domestic competition in the selection cycle for the Junior and Cadet World Fencing Championships. All throughout the year, our athletes competed for valuable ranking points in hopes of earning a spot on the 2010 U.S. Fencing National Teams for juniors and cadets which are comprised of the Top 3 point holders in the country. Qualification in the Teams earns for them the right to represent the country and compete at the 2010 World Championships. This year, the Championships will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from April 1-10.

Empire United earned more spots on the Cadet and Junior National teams than any other club in the country! Margaret Lu secured a spot on both the Cadet and Junior National Teams. Race Imboden and Brian Kaneshige both made the Men’s Foil Cadet National Team and Alen Hadzic made the Junior Men’s Epee National Team.

EUF Men’s Foil Gold Medal Sweep at 2010 JO’s

sean — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:07:27 +0000

The athletes and the coaches of our club traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to compete in the Junior Olympics, an annual even held in February during the four-day President’s holiday weekend. Over 1,600 athletes from all over the country competed at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. The Junior Olympic Championships are the National Championships for the junior and cadet fencers in each of the three weapons, both boys and girls. A total of twenty two athletes represented our club in both foil and epee competitions and each one gave it his/her very best and we congratulate all of them for their individual and team efforts.

Our Empire United men’s foilist achieved a gold medal sweep of all of the foil events at the J.O.’s! Brian Kaneshige won Gold in Cadet Men’s Foil and Race Imboden won Gold in Junior Men’s Foil. In addition to the individual events, Empire United won the Junior Men’s Foil team event besting thirty one other teams from all over the country. In the Junior Women’s Foil, Margaret Lu placed third out of 145 competitors.

In the Junior Men’s Epee event, Empire United’s Alen Hadzic won Gold while Brian Ro placed 9th out of 222 competitors in Cadet Men’s Epee. This is the first season of the Empire United Epee program and it has been an immediate force in national epee competitions.

The real story of the J.O.’s however was the cohesion and support all our parents and athletes showed for one another throughout the competition. It is the dedication and hard work of everyone at the club that has helped set Empire United apart. Thank you to all our parents and athletes!

EUF EPEE FENCER IS NCAA CHAMPION

sean — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:43:23 +0000

EUF Epee fencer MARAT ISRAELIAN of St. John’s University was crowned NCAA Men’s Epee Champion at the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championhsips held at Harvard University on Sunday, March 28. Marat clinched the title after an amazing performance during the competition registering a 13 point indicator lead and a decisive 14-10 victory against Peter French of the Air Force Academy in the Finals bout. We congratulate Marat and his coach Alexey Cheremsky.

EUF Fencer Takes Home Bronze!

sean — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:35:05 +0000

EUF fencer Race Imboden opened the Cadet men’s foil competition in dominating fashion with a 15-0 shutout victory over Mexico’s Jesus Beltran and continued into the secound round by knocking off Australia’s Christopher Nagle 15-1. Race edged Korea’s Hyun Kwang Lee by a 15-12 score to advance to the quarterfinals where he out touched Hungary’s Antal Gyorgyi 15-2. In the semifinals Race lost a hard fought bout to Italy’s Eduardo Luperi 15-12.

Cassara and Kolobkov Were Here!

sean — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:23:28 +0000

Our highly successful Holiday Foil and Epee camps were graced by no other than world renowned fencers Andrea Cassara and Pavel Kolobkov. EUF members and other camp participants benefited greatly from the tactical expertise learned from the experience. Also present were Cassara’s teammate Peppe Alongi and their coach Maestro Massimo Omeri .