U.S. Teams Arrives in Catania for Senior World Championships

(Catania, Italy) – The first members of Team USA arrived in Catania this week in preparation for the Senior World Championships which begin with preliminary rounds on Sunday.

The U.S. Men’s Saber Team arrived in Catania for five days of pre-Worlds training camp in which Daryl Homer (New York City, N.Y.), Tim Morehouse (New York City, N.Y.), James Williams (New York City, N.Y.) and Ben Igoe (Staten Island, N.Y.) followed a week in Rome with lessons and workouts in Catania. Team alternate Jeff Spear (Wyantskill, N.Y.) and U.S. Women’s Saber Team member Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.) also trained with the team as they prepared for competition next week.

“The camp in Rome was great. We basically had three days of non-stop fencing with the Italians and now that we’re closer, it’s more about getting fencing in, but also taking stress off,” said Coach Yury Gelman (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

The U.S. Men's Epee Team trained in France for two weeks before coming to Catania.

Following  two weeks of training in Bordeaux, France, the men’s epee team of Seth Kelsey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.), Cody Mattern (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.) arrived in Catania on Thursday.

The four-person squad was joined by Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Alex Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.), Tommi Hurme (San Antonio, Texas) and Dwight Smith (Elmont, N.Y.) who travelled and practiced with the team as training partners.

“The camp went very well and they showed a good team bonding,” said U.S. Men’s Epee Coach Sebastien Dos Santos (Portland, Ore.) “All of the team members were fencing well by the end of the camp and are ready to compete. Now it's a question of resting well and being in the right mind set the day of the event.”

Three members of the women’s foil team also arrived on Thursday.

Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.), Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.) flew to Catania from their respective hometowns after training at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind. last week.

The trio, all of whom will be competing on Sunday in the preliminary rounds, will be joined on Saturday by Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) – the two-time Pan American Champion whose top-16 World Ranking has earned her an exemption from fencing until the table of 64 begins for women’s foil on Tuesday.

“The training camp was good. We had a lot of video to work on, a lot of tactical actions to work on. We had lots of scenarios and situations we went through. Overall, the foil teams look good and I’m hoping it’s going to be a very good week for us,” said USA Fencing Foil Director Mauro Hamza (Houston, Texas).

The women’s saber and epee and men’s foil teams will continue to arrive over the weekend.

Preliminary competition begins on Sunday. Athletes who are seeded in the top 16 of the event will be exempt from the preliminary rounds and will advance directly to the table of 64 next week.

Competition schedule is as follows:

Sunday, Oct. 9 – Individual Preliminary Rounds
Men’s Saber
Ben Igoe (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Tim Morehouse (New York City, N.Y.)
James Williams (New York City, N.Y.)

Women’s Foil
Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.)
Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.)

Men’s Epee
Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.)
Cody Mattern (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.)

Monday, Oct. 10 – Individual Preliminary Rounds
Women’s Saber
All U.S. Team members exempt

Women’s Epee
Lindsay Campbell (Brooklyn, N.Y )
Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
Maya Lawrence (Teaneck, N.J.)

Men’s Foil
Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Tuesday, Oct. 11 – Individual Table of 64
Women’s Foil
Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)
Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Additional athletes TBD based on Oct. 9 results

Men’s Saber
Daryl Homer (New York City, N.Y.)
Additional athletes TBD based on Oct. 9 results

Wednesday, Oct. 12 – Individual Table of 64
Men’s Epee
Seth Kelsey (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Additional athletes TBD based on Oct. 9 results

Women’s Saber
Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.)
Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.)
Daria Schneider (New York City, N.Y.)
Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.)

Thursday, Oct. 13 – Individual Table of 64
Men’s Epee
Additional athletes TBD based on Oct. 10 results

Men’s Foil
Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.)
Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Additional athletes TBD based on Oct. 10 results

Friday, Oct. 14 – Team Competition
Women’s Foil
Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)
Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.)
Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.)

Men’s Saber
Daryl Homer (New York City, N.Y.)
Ben Igoe (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Tim Morehouse (New York City, N.Y.)
James Williams (New York City, N.Y.)

Saturday, Oct. 15 – Team Competition
Men’s Epee
Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.)
Seth Kelsey (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Cody Mattern (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.)

Women’s Saber
Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.)
Daria Schneider (New York City, N.Y.)
Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.)
Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.)

Sunday, Oct. 16 - Team Competition
Women’s Epee
Lindsay Campbell (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
Maya Lawrence (Teaneck, N.J.)

Men's Foil
Miles Chamley-Watson (Phladelphia, Pa)
Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.)