Queen City Cup 2024: March 9-10, 2024
Coach Annamaria and Lillian S. take a selfie after the Y14 Women’s Saber event.
On March 9-10, 2024, Coach Annamaria and fencers Lillian S., Caden B., and Gregory S. traveled out to Cincinnati for our clubs first official travel regional away from home with multiple fencers!
Caden B. and Gregory S. each competed in one event - Y14 Men’s Saber and Y12 Men’s Saber respectively. Lillian S. competed in Y14 Women’s Saber and fenced up into the Cadet Women’s Saber for the first time, too!
Caden B. (on the right, across) fences in the his direct elimination bout against Easton R. from our friends at Buccaneer Blades.
Caden B.
Caden competed on Saturday in the Y14 Men’s Saber. This was his first time traveling to a regional event. Caden managed to stay calm throughout pools and even won one pool bout. Caden got paired with a St. Louis fencer in the first round of direct elimination and won - way to go, Caden! While Caden lost his next DE bout, we are proud of his progress and just know that the events will continue to get easier as he gains more experience working at the regional level. We hope you enjoyed your well-deserved steak dinner Saturday night, Caden!
Gregory S. (second strip, lunging) executes a beautiful lunge into preparation during his direction elimination bout.
Gregory S.
Gregory competed on Sunday in the Y12 Men’s Saber. This isn’t his first time traveling for an event, but it is the first regional that he and Coach Annamaria have been able to work together as a team. Gregory had a tough pool and wasn’t in the right headspace, but Coach Annamaria is so proud of him for his work in the direct elimination. Gregory was able to reset his mindset for his direct elimination bout and executed amazingly well. He listened, he was fired up, he was strategic - and after being down 8-4 at the one minute break ended up losing 15-13, but outscored his opponent 9-7 in the second half and managed to score on 2 flunges. While it was a heartbreaking loss, Annamaria is extremely proud of how well Gregory mentally bounced back after pools and was able to focus and almost win his DE!
Lillian S. (second from right) and the other Y14 Women’s Saber finalists jump for joy after the awards presentation.
Lillian S.
This was Lillian’s first travel tournament and first regional tournament - and she made club history by being the first fencer to receive a contested medal in the Y14 Women’s Saber event! Pools in Y14 Women’s were tough, but for her direct elimination (which she needed to win to medal), she had a fencer who beat her handily in the pool 5-1. Coach Annamaria and Lillian came up with a game plan and some adjustments for the DE, and Lillian end up emerging victorious 15-12. She then was up against a fencer from her pool who beat her 5-2, and managed to get 8 touches on that fierce opponent.
In Cadet Women’s Saber, Lillian fenced her first D-rated women’s saber fencer and had quite a bit of fun fencing up into a new age category.
Lillian S.’s little cousin, Luna, gets her first experience with fencing. She was entranced by the shininess of the saber. Start them young!
Fencing is About Family
Beyond medals and winning, fencing is tight-knit, community sport and part of that sport is enhanced by the families involved. We are always excited, impressed, and happy when our fencer’s families come out to support them. At this event, Lillian had quite a crew cheering her on - both of her parents, an aunt, and a baby cousin! Thanks for coming out to support Lillian, take photos, share laughs, and so much more.
Lillian S. (center) and the rest of her family (Luna, Megan, Doug, and Amber) at the Queen City Cup.