April 15, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame freshman Lee Kiefer completed a solid performance last week at the 2013 Women’s Foil Junior World Championships in Porec, Croatia, finishing third behind champion Camilla Mancini of Italy and runner-up Leyla Pirieva of Russia.
The reigning NCAA women’s foil champion also helped the United States foil team secure a second-place finish behind the victorious entry from Italy.
Kiefer, the number one seed in individual competition, defeated Melissa Rebolledo of Mexico 15-5 to start competition. Next up was Maria Boldor (Romania), against whom Kiefer delivered a decisive 15-3 victory. To advance into the final rounds of individual competition, Kiefer out-dueled France’s Pauline Ranvier 15-2. The score stood as Kiefer’s largest margin of victory throughout the singles competition.
In the table of eight, Kiefer downed Ranvier’s Francophile teammate Julie Mienville in a 15-7 battle before losing to eventual champion Mancini in a hard-fought 15-14 bout.
The American entry started the team portion of the competition seeded first and competed against 16-seed Venezuela. The U.S. women advanced with a score of 45 touches to 16, the team’s largest margin of victory throughout the event. The U.S. squad went on to beat Korea 45-26 and Canada 45-30 before losing to second-seeded Italy 45-36 in the final team bout.
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