Air Force Academy
NAC Division I
North American Cup Division I, San Diego, Calif.
1/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
Jan. 21, 2003
The fencing team competed in the North American Cup Division I competitions in San Diego last week. Seth Kelsey finished fifth in a field of 175 men's epee competitors. Kelsey holds an "A" ranking in Division I NACs. Teammate Tim French placed 10th in the epee competition. French also competed in the junior men's epee division. To his disappointment, he placed 34th in the field of 83. Also in men's epee, Anthony Pryor placed 135th.
"I am angry with myself from my junior result. I was hoping to win this event, especially after two strong Division I NAC (senior) results," French said. "It hurts to fence one day and beat a lot of the top fencers in the nation and then not to fence at the same level the following day. Still, I will not go home empty-handed; this is my top NAC Senior result in my career."
In the Division I women's epee event Elia Burrill placed 50th and Caitlin Harris 68th. Sean Recame finished 91st, while Chris Jones placed 115th among 165 competitors in the men's foil competition.
"I don't think this result is a career high, but finally I finished higher than my teammate Chris Jones. I'm expecting the coach to raise the intensity with foil during practice," Recame said.
The Division I men's sabre event consisted of 91 fencers. Sam Bartron placed 53rd, Andy Greig 64th and Sean Blas finished 68th.
"We improved our results a little bit from the last NAC in December. This encourages me to keep going," Bartron said.
Andrea Rix was the only AFA fencer in the Division I women's sabre event. She finished 36th among 80.
"I had some good bouts," Rix said. "Even if I didn't finish very high, I think this helped my confidence. I beat two NCAA All-Americans from last year. I'm looking forward to the NCAA meet (March 20-23)."
In the junior division (under 20) epee, French finished 34th, Harris finished 33rd and Bartron finished 29th in sabre.
In February, the Falcons will fence against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Feb. 1-2 and Duke, Feb. 7-8, in Durham, N.C. The Junior Olympics is scheduled for Feb. 14-17 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
NAC Div. I Results: In the Division I -- Men's Epee: Kelsey, fifth; French, 10th; Anthony Pryor, 135th. Women's Epee: Elia Burrill, 50th; Caitlin Harris, 68th. Men's Foil: Sean Recame, 91st; Chris Jones, 115th. Men's Sabre: Sam Bartron, 53rd; Andy Greig, 64th; Sean Blas, 68th. Women's Sabre: Andrea Rix, 36th. In the Junior Division -- Men's Epee: French, 34th. Women's Epee: Caitlin Harris, 33rd. Men's Sabre: Bartron, 29th.
