Record North American Cup Finish for Local Fencer
More than 1,000 fencers, including 11 members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team competed in the USA Fencing November North American Cup (NAC) in Cleveland, Ohio from November 8 to 11. The November NAC is the first domestic tournament of the 2013-2014 season for Division I and Junior fencers and is a key qualifier for both the 2014 Senior and Junior World Championships.
Maciek Zmyslowski, from the Illinois Fencers Club and now a student at Northwestern University, earned a seventh place medal for Division 1 men's epee in the outstanding field of 310 Division 1 athletes. This is the highest finish for an Illinois fencer in Division 1 epee. Maciek is currently ranked 39th in the country in the 2013-2014 senior men's epee national ranking list, the highest position for any Illinois fencer in the current standings at the senior level.
Also at this NAC, Illinois Fencers Club member, Gabe Weininger, finished 28th in the junior men's epee out of a field of 206 fencers, and 62nd in Division I men's epee. These results position him in top 15 on the cadet men's epee national ranking list.
Just this weekend, Gabe finished in10th place in Division IA senior men's epee at the Regional Open Circuit (ROC) in San Diego on November 17th. He was the only IFC fencer in the field of 75 athletes.
Maciek Zmyslowski placed 6th in senior men's epee at the ROC Remenyik Open at Henry Crown Sports Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL on October 26th. Other Illinois Fencers Club members included Deon Bradford finishing 9th, Timothy Glass 12th and Alexsandr Heber 19th among the 77 fencers who participated in the event.
Maciek who has been fencing for nine years gives credit to his coach at IFC, Ina Harizanova, and the "serious and productive training" he received at IFC.
Four young fencers from Illinois Fencers Club traveled to Waukesha, Wisconsin to compete in the WFA mixed open tournament on October 20 and returned with 6 medals. In the mixed epee event Jakub Nowak took the gold medal for first place, while teammates AJ Mikkelson took silver and Andrew Vold bronze. In the mixed foil event AJ took gold, Jakub silver, and Andrew bronze, while Marco Mendoza finished 5th. AJ also earned his USFA E rating in foil at this event.
The Illinois Fencers Club, Mt. Prospect, IL promotes and teaches the Olympic sport of fencing to students of all ages and skill levels and provides a friendly and safe venue for members to practice their sport. It is a member operated non-for-profit sports association that has been serving beginning, recreational, and competitive fencers for more than 40 years. Further information is available on the club's website www.IFCfencing.org and its Facebook page.