(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – All three gold medalists of the women’s events at the Division I Nationals in Philadelphia on Saturday were 21 years old or younger with each winning the Championship for the first time as the next generation of Olympic hopefuls.
The first day of Summer Nationals began at the Pennsylvania Convention Center with gold medals awarded in the women’s Division I National Championships as well as the cadet men’s events at the Junior Olympic Championships.
Two members of this year’s Junior World Team came away with gold as Hadley Husisian (Oakton, Va. / Fencing Sports Academy) earned the women’s epee title and May Tieu (Belle Mead, N.J. / Premier Fencing Club / Princeton) took the women’s foil gold. A four-time Junior and two-time Senior World Team member, Chloe Fox-Gitomer (Portland, Ore. / Oregon Fencing Alliance / Princeton) claimed the women’s saber title.
Seventeen-year-old Husisian won her second straight Division I gold and first National Championship title in the women’s epee event following her double gold finish in the junior and Division I events at the June NAC. After a 6-0 finish in pools, the 2021 Junior World Team member took wins over Ava Cheng (Winter Gardens, Fla. / Penta Olympic Fencing Club) and 2021 Cadet World Team member Faith Park (Lorton, Va. / DC Fencers Club) by 15-4 and 15-9 scores, respectively.
In the 16, Husisan fenced 2019 Cadet World Team member Amanda Pirkowski (Longwood, Fla. / Notre Dame) who was entering the event with silver and bronze medals at the April and May NACs to her credit. Husisian controlled the bout for a 15-6 victory to advance to the quarter-finals where she edged 2020 U.S. Olympic Team replacement athlete Anna van Brummen (Houston, Texas / Alliance Fencing Academy), 15-14.
The semifinals would see a rematch between Husisan and 2014 Division I National Champion Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (Oconomowoc, Wis. / Ataba Fencing Club) who fenced in the 32 at the May NAC with Guzzi Vincenti winning the bout, 15-7. After a slow first period with a score tied at two, Husisian went on a 6-3 run to end the second period at 8-5. Husisian controlled the third period as well, scoring three straight singles to close the bout at 15-8.
The finals would be a showdown of 17 year olds with Husisian fencing her 2021 Junior World teammate, Michaela Joyce (Sterling, Va. / Cardinal Fencing Academy) for gold. Neither athlete scored for the first minute, but the pace was picked up when the P cards were doled out to both fencers. Up, 5-3, Husisian went on a tear, outscoring Joyce, 10-4, to win the first Div I National Championship of the tournament, 15-7.
The reigning Junior World Champion, Tieu earned made her first Division I title a National Championship win in a foil field that boasted five former Junior or Cadet World medalists in the top eight.
Undefeated in pools, Tieu ran through the DEs, holding her first four opponents to single digit scores. After a bye into the 64, Tieu defeated Polly Adler (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Fencers Club / New York University), 15-4, and Christina Gong (Belmont, Mass. / Marx Fencing Academy), 15-9. She outscored April NAC silver medalist Skyler Knight (Palo Alto, Calif. / Maximum Fencing Club), 15-4, in the 16 and Vivian Zheng (Amherst, N.Y. / Rochester Fencing Club), 15-7, to advance to the semifinals.
Tieu fenced 2015 Junior World Champion Sara Taffel (New York City, N.Y. / Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Center) in the semis and held a 10-6 lead in the second before Taffel came back to tie the score at 10. Tieu regained control of the bout with four straight touches, but Taffel fought back with two of her own to cut Tieu’s lead to 14-12. With a final berth on the line, Tieu scored the winning touch and advanced to the gold medal round, 15-12, as Taffel added a National Championship bronze to her bronze at the June NAC.
In the finals, Tieu fenced Maia Weintraub (Philadelphia, Pa. / Fencers Club) – the 2019 Div I National Champion and her teammate on the 2021 Junior World Team that won silver in April. Tieu held a lead throughout the first two periods and entered the third up 10-8. She finished strong, ending the match with three straight touches and a 15-11 win.
After winning the Division I event at the June NAC, 2018 Junior World silver team medalist Chloe Fox-Gitomer (Portland, Ore. / Oregon Fencing Alliance / Princeton) returned to the top of the podium to earn the women’s saber Div I National Championship title.
Fox-Gitomer finished the pool rounds tied for second and won her first two DE bouts against Janna Freedman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / South Bay Fencing Academy) and Michelle Julien (Parkland, Fla. / Bergen Fencing Club) by 15-8 and 15-9 scores, respectively.
In the next two rounds, Fox-Gitomer edged each of her opponents by 15-13 scores, defeating 2019 Cadet World silver medalist Chloe Gouhin (Blacklick, Ohio / Nellya Fencers) and Sky Miller (Durham, N.C. / Northwestern) to make the semifinals.
Fox-Gitomer faced reigning NCAA Champion Kara Linder (Chandler, Ariz. / Notre Dame) in the semifinals, taking a one-touch lead at the break and pulling away in the second period for a 15-11 win.
In the finals, Fox-Gitomer would face 2016 Div I National Champion Kamali Thompson (Teaneck, N.J. / Peter Westbrook Foundation) who was entering the competition with bronze medals at both the April and May NACs to her credit. Thompson held off a comeback by Fox-Gitomer in the first period to take an 8-7 lead at the break, but Fox-Gitomer pulled ahead in the second at 13-12. Thompson scored the next two touches, but was unable to close out as Fox-Gitomer scored the last two to take the bout, 15-14.
The Junior Olympic events also saw three first-time champions as Henry Lawson (New York City, N.Y. / Fencers Club), Andrew Chen (Lexington, Ky. / Bluegrass Fencers Club) and Darii Lukashenko (Fort Lee, N.J. / Manhattan Fencing Center) won the epee, foil and saber titles, respectively.
Lawson, a member of the 2016 Cadet World Team, finished his season with a second gold medal on the circuit, adding his first Junior Olympic gold to the cadet title he won at the May NAC. After holding off Max Zhu (Diamond Bar, Calif. / TeamK Fencing), 15-14, in the semifinals, Lawson took on Ark Ma (Houston, Texas / Alliance Fencing Academy), the May NAC gold medalist in the junior event, for gold. Up, 7-6, after the first period, Lawson grew his lead to 13-10 after the second and scored the two touches he needed in just over a minute in the third to win the bout, 15-13.
A 2016 National Champion as a Y10 foil fencer, Chen earned his first Junior Olympic title on Saturday. After a 6-0 pool finish, Chen went on to defeat Ethan Augustine (Upper Saddle River, N.J. / Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy) in the semifinals, 15-9, to set up a final against Samarth Kumbla (San Jose, Calif. / Silicon Valley Fencing Center). Fencing for gold, Chen took a 10-9 lead after the first period and reeled off five touches in less than a minute in the second to take the win, 15-10.
Lukashenko advanced to the saber finals after a medical withdraw in the semis by Konrad Czyzewski (Caldwell, N.J. / Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy) and dominated his gold medal bout against Neil Lilov (Denville, N.J. / Lilov Fencing Academy), outscoring his opponent, 8-1, in the first and closing at 15-2 in the second.
Top eight results are as follows:
Division I Women’s Epee National Championships
1. Hadley Husisian (Oakton, Va. / Fencing Sports Academy)
2. Michaela Joyce (Sterling, Va. / Cardinal Fencing Academy)
3. Charlene Liu (Bridgewater, N.J. / Medeo Fencing Club)
3. Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (Oconomowoc, Wis. / Ataba Fencing Club)
5. Kasia Nixon (Los Angeles, Calif. / Fencers Club / Princeton)
6. Anne Cebula (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Fencers Club)
7. Anna van Brummen (Houston, Texas / Alliance Fencing Academy)
8. Mina Yamanaka (Floral Park, N.Y. / New York Athletic Club)
Division I Women’s Foil National Championships
1. May Tieu (Belle Mead, N.J. / Premier Fencing Club / Princeton)
2. Maia Weintraub (Philadelphia, Pa. / Fencers Club)
3. Zander Rhodes (South Orange, N.J. / V Fencing Club)
3. Sara Taffel (New York City, N.J. / Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club)
5. Delphine DeVore (Westport, Conn. / Fencers Club, N.J.)
6. Vivian Zheng (Amherst, N.Y. / Rochester Fencing Club)
7. Anna Novoseltseva (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Grand Rapids Fencing Academy)
8. Natalie Minarik (Glen Oaks, N.Y. / East Coast Fencing Club)
Division I Women’s Saber National Championships
1. Chloe Fox-Gitomer (Portland, Ore. / Oregon Fencing Alliance / Princeton)
2. Kamali Thompson (Teaneck, N.J. / Peter Westbrook Foundation)
3. Tatiana Nazlymov (Bethesda, Md. / Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)
3. Kara Linder (Chandler, Ariz. / Notre Dame)
5. Maria Theodore (Quincy, Mass. / Boston Fencing Club / Harvard)
6. Atara Greenbaum (Boca Raton, Fla. / Alle Fencing Club / Notre Dame)
7. Sky Miller (Durham, N.C. / Northwestern University)
8. Lola Possick (Weehawken, N.J. / Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy)
Cadet Men’s Epee Junior Olympic Championships
1. Henry Lawson (New York City, N.Y. / Fencers Club)
2. Ark Ma (Houston, Texas / Alliance Fencing Academy)
3. Kent Iyoki (Camas, Wash. / Northwest Fencing Center)
3. Max Zhu (Diamond Bar, Calif. / TeamK Fencing)
5. Skyler Liverant (Brooklyn, N.Y. / New York Fencing Academy)
6. Riley Robinson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Battle Born Fencing Club)
7. Jack Kropp (Falls Church, Va. / Fencing Sports Academy)
8. Tony Whelan (Cambridge, Mass. / Olympia Fencing Center)
Cadet Men’s Foil Junior Olympic Championships
1. Andrew Chen (Lexington, Ky. / Bluegrass Fencers Club)
2. Samarth Kumbla (San Jose, Calif. / Silicon Valley Fencing Center)
3. Ethan Augustine (Upper Saddle River, N.J. / Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)
3. Renzo Fukuda (San Francisco, Calif. / Massialas Foundation)
5. Nicholas Kim (New York City, N.Y. / Top Fencing Club)
6. Ethan Um (Boston, Mass. / Marx Fencing Academy)
7. Ethan Xiao (Birmingham, Ala. / Birmingham Fencing Club)
8. Henry Zhang (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Tim Morehouse Fencing Center)
Cadet Men’s Saber Junior Olympic Championships
1. Darii Lukashenko (Fort Lee, N.J. / Manhattan Fencing Center)
2. Neil Lilov (Denville, N.J. / Lilov Fencing Academy)
3. Konrad Czyzewski (Caldwell, N.J. / Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy)
5. Connor Liang (San Diego, Calif. / Laguna Fencing Center)
6. William Morrill (New York City, N.Y. / Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
7. Matthew Linsky (New York City, N.Y. / Manhattan Fencing Center)
8. Samir Travers (Newton, Mass. / Boston Fencing Club)
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