Dec. 6, 2009
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Senior epeeist Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas/Earl Warren) took home the women’s epee gold medal at this past weekend’s United States Fencing Association (USFA) North America Cup event that concluded on December 6 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The event featured the best fencers on the continent, including over 1,250 athletes, and marked the third 2009-10 North American Cup event of the year.
Hurley overcame a field of 128 fencers to claim the women’s epee gold. In a dramatic gold medal bout, Hurley downed Ainsley Switzer of Canada by a 15-10 margin. Hurley had been trailing by one touch with one minute left in the bout, but she rattled off five consecutive touches in a 39-second span to close out the contest.
Hurley was joined in the women’s epee field by her sister and Irish teammate, Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas/Earl Warren), as well as by sophomore Diane Zielinski (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards). Courtney Hurley was knocked out of the elimination draw by Kelley and went on to finish 13th, while Zielinski finished 70th.
The Irish also had a strong showing in men’s sabre, as Avery Zuck (Beaverton, OR/Jesuit) and Barron Nydam (Rancho Santa Fe, CA/Santa Fe Christian) tied for fifth. Sophomore Marcel Frenkel (Sao Paulo, Brazil/St. Paul’s) finished 30th and sophomore Keith Feldman (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) finished 40th in the men’s sabre field of 105 entrants.
In men’s epee, freshman James Kaull (Washington DC/Woodrow Wilson) had an impressive run, finishing 33rd out of 211 men’s epee entrants.
In the women’s foil field of 93 participants, former Irish all-American Alicja Kryczalo finished fifth, while sophomore Radmila Sarkisova finished 21st and 2009 graduate Adrienne Nott placed 24th. Junior Hayley Reese (Crestwood, Ky./Oldham County) finished 30th and freshman Grace Hartman (St. Paul, MN/St. Paul Academy and Summit School) placed 42nd.
Check back with UND.com as men’s foil and women’s sabre results will be posted as they become available.
— ND —