PRESS RELEASE
DATE: 07/10/2019
Cardinal Fencing Academy (Sterling, VA) athletes bring home five medals from the USA Fencing Summer Nationals held in Columbus, OH over the 4th of July Weekend.
Michaela Joyce (15) earned a fifth place in Junior (20 and under) Women's Epee and a Silver Medal in Cadet (17 and under) Women's Epee. These results allows the Sterling, VA teen to maintain the #1 position in the race to qualify for the World Championships held in Salt Lake City, UT in April 2020. Joyce trains at the Cardinal Fencing Academy in Sterling, VA and attends Madeira High School.
A combined team of Alex Ratchinine (Herndon, VA), Iliya Mechkov (Boston, MA), Robert Harris (Boston, MA) and David Hitchcock (Leesburg, VA) won the Veteran Team Men's Epee (40 and over) National Championship. This makes David H. and Alex R. three time National Champions in this event. The team, aptly named "Ripostal Service 4: Iliya's Revenge" awarded the Coach's Medal to Cardinal Fencing Academy founder Ilya Lobanenkov.
"It's great to see that we have multi-generational champions in the North Virginia area. There is nothing more rewarding than to watch younger fencers learn from the more experienced ones and in turn, the more experienced ones gain a refreshing new perspective from the youth. Fencing is a creative and living sport, it never gets old." Said Coach Lobanenkov after coming home from the ten-day event.
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