Team USA Wins Men’s Saber and Women’s Team Foil, Sweeps Individual and Team Golds at Pan Ams

(Reno, Nev.) – Team USA made history at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on Saturday when the U.S. men’s saber and women’s foil teams won gold at the Pan American Zonal Championships which completed a U.S. sweep of all 12 gold medals awarded during the six-day event.

The last two gold medals of the Pan Ams marked the first time in history that a U.S. Team has swept the gold medals at a Zonal Championships.

“They brought their best performances all week. They peaked at the right time and this is a fantastic indicator of the level of talent of all of our teams and gives us a level of confidence going into the World Championships in Catania in October,” said USA Fencing Executive Director Greg Dilworth (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

The U.S. Men’s Saber Team entered the 2012 Olympic qualifying event trailing Canada in the Olympic Rankings and fencing fans were waiting throughout the week for a Team USA vs. Canada final. Knowing that a Pan Am win would mean earning a significant lead over Canada in the rankings, Team USA entered the event with the pressure of needing a win, but the advantage of being able to compete in front of U.S. supporters.

“Lessening the travel time and giving people a comfortable environment and lots of cheering fans on home soil absolutely had a positive effect on the team and we’re all pleased that the athletes and coaches worked hard to prepare for this event and were able to win gold in front of a home crowd,” Dilworth said.

After a bye, the U.S. Team of Daryl Homer (New York City, N.Y.), James Williams (New York City, N.Y.), Tim Morehouse (New York City, N.Y.) and Jeff Spear (Wyantskill, N.Y.) won the quarter-finals against El Salvador, 45-30, and the semifinals against Venezuela, 45-32, to advance to the final against Canada.

Williams and Homer opened the match with a 10-3 lead during the first two bouts. Canada made a steady comeback, however, after Joseph Polossifakis earned six touches to Spear’s five in the fifth bout to put the match at 25-24.

Homer outscored Philippe Beaudry by a touch in the sixth bout to increase Team USA’s lead to 30-28 and Spear held 2010 Pan American Champion Vincent Couturier (CAN) to just two touches to end the seventh, 35-30.

In the eighth bout, Williams outscored Beaudry, 5-1, to give Homer a nine-touch lead going into the final bout.

Anchoring just his third match ever for Team USA, Homer gave up just a touch to Polossifakis as he scored five touches of his own to end the bout, 45-32.

“We’ve been making a lot of steady improvements over the Olympic qualifying season and I think we put it all together here,” Homer said. “Jeff had some rough bouts early on, but we were able to help him out and then he had an amazing bout later on, so it just shows that we were able to bounce back and keep fencing.”

Although the U.S. men’s saber athletes are attempting to qualify as a team for the London Games, Homer also said he knew that he had to focus on individual results as well.

“It feels really great to win, but I immediately started thinking about how I need to keep doing well in the World Cups because we’re in a good position to qualify now and I need to make sure I stay ahead of my teammates individually,” Homer said.

Head Coach Yury Gelman (New York City, N.Y.) said he was proud of his team’s result and how the athletes stepped up under the pressure of one of the most substantial events of the Olympic qualifying season.

“Generally, I think we’re a much better team, fencing-wise, but the pressure over the last year and when Canada did better than we did in New York, it put pressure on the guys. When I talked to the guys I told them we have to fence this action only how we can and the guys did it completely and followed the plan,” Gelman said.  “Everyone did well. I’m very happy for everyone, especially Jeff Spear because it’s the first time he fenced for our team for the whole competition. He shows that he can fence very well and be part of the team.”

The gold medal victory came in spite of the fact that 2008 Olympic silver medalist Morehouse was injured prior to the competition.

“We had to fence without Tim Morehouse who always fences for us, but this time he only fenced one bout because his arm was hurt today,” said Gelman who said he was pleased with the results of each of his team members. “I think James Williams and Daryl Homer fenced very well.  They had positive indicators and tactically they fenced very well. Really, the whole team fenced very well all day and we completely achieved our goals, so I’m happy.”

Team USA (L-R): Nicole Ross, Doris Willette, Coach Amgad Khazbak, Foil Team Director Mauro Hamza, Nzingha Prescod and Lee Kiefer.

The U.S. Women’s Foil Team also is in direct competition with the Canadians for an Olympic slot.

With a 13-point lead on Canada in the Olympic Rankings, the U.S. women came in as the reigning Pan Am Champions and were favored to win the event in Reno.

As the top seeded team, the squad of Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.), Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.) and Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.) advanced directly to the semifinal where they soundly defeated the Brazilians, 45-9, to advance to the final against Canada.

Kiefer, the two-time Pan American Champion in the individual event, was selected to anchor the bout against the Canadians.

“I anchored last year, but the coaches have had each of us anchor at some point. Nzingha and Doris usually anchor more often than I do, but I like being out there at the end,” Kiefer said.

Although Team USA led throughout the bout, Willette and Prescod each had her best results of the day during the final three bouts.

In a rematch of their semifinal bout during the individual competition, Willette shut out Monica Peterson (CAN), 5-0, to give Team USA a 10-point lead and Prescod gave up only one touch to Alanna Goldie.

With a score of 40-26 going into the final bout, Kiefer held off Kelleigh Ryan to finish the win for Team USA, 45-31.

“We did what we were supposed to do today and it’s good to know that we’re that much closer to qualifying for the Olympics and now we’re all just looking forward to Worlds,” Kiefer said.

Top eight results are as follows:

Men’s Team Saber
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Venezuela
4. Argentina
5. El Salvador
6. Brazil
7. Chile
8. Mexico

Women’s Team Foil
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Venezuela
5. Puerto Rico
6. Mexico