Magda Skarbonkiewicz OLY (Oregon Fencing Alliance & University of Notre Dame) fences against Lola Possick (Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy & University of Notre Dame).
January 2025 NAC, Day 2: An Olympian’s Return and Veteran Camaraderie
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by Bryan Wendell & Rachel Luce
At the January North American Cup in Kansas City, Skarbonkiewicz returns in gold-medal form, and the strength of the Veteran community takes center stage in Kansas City.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After focusing on qualifying for and competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Magda Skarbonkiewicz OLY (Oregon Fencing Alliance & University of Notre Dame) hadn’t attended a USA Fencing domestic tournament in a year. Judging by her gold medal on Saturday in Division I Women’s Saber, Skarbonkiewicz hasn’t missed a beat — or a practice.
“I came back, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, I haven’t been here in so long,’” she said. “And then I fenced, and it’s like I never left.”
Skarbonkiewicz’s victory was one of 18 gold medals awarded on Saturday, the second day of the January 2025 North American Cup in Kansas City.
Having started fencing at age 6, Skarbonkiewicz described her return to a NAC as a homecoming.
“It was good to see everyone because you grew up with these people,” she said. “It’s really nice to see the coaches and friends — people you don’t usually get to see during international competition.”
That “family reunion” atmosphere extends to the Veteran events, according to Charlotta Bowie (Modern Duelists Fencing Academy), who won gold in Vet 70 Women’s Epee.
“The veteran fencing community is unbelievable,” Bowie said. “Everyone’s very close to each other, but they give each other competitive distance, too. I think we all know that fencing is one of the best keys you can have to being a vibrant and healthy person, and it really hones your intellectual capabilities, too.”
Jacaeber Kastor (Manhattan Fencing Center), the Vet 70 Men’s Saber champion, echoed that sentiment after making an impressive Vet 70 debut.
“Well, at this age, it’s like a nice group of people that become your friends over many years,” Kastor said. “So it’s a bunch of faces you like to see, and it’s kind of a comforting thing to have other people to share the whole experience with.”
But while the camaraderie is cherished, everyone competing in Kansas City is here to win. For Val Kizik (IndySabre), winner of the Vet 60 Men’s Saber event, success comes from following the advice he gives his own students.
“Definitely conditioning, fencing, and knowing who I will be fencing with — profiling people,” Kizik said. “Thinking about what to expect because it’s fencing — anything can happen. And you have to be ready for that.”
Day 2: Photo Gallery
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Day 2: Top 8 Medalists
Division I Women’s Saber
Gold: Magda Skarbonkiewicz OLY (Oregon Fencing Alliance & University of Notre Dame)
Silver: Lola Possick (Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy & University of Notre Dame)
Bronze: Zoe Kim (Nellya Fencers & Harvard University)
Bronze: Jadeyn Williams (Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy & University of Notre Dame)
5th: Alexandra Lee (Princeton University & Premier Fencing Academy)
6th: Madison Thurgood (Canada)
7th: Vivian Lu (University of Pennsylvania & Manhattan Fencing Center)
8th: Atara Greenbaum (University of Notre Dame & Alle Fencing Club)
Division I Men's Foil
Gold: Andrew Chen (Bluegrass Fencers' Club & Harvard University)
Silver: Gerek Meinhardt OLY (Massialas Foundation & Bluegrass Fencers' Club)
Bronze: Edriss Ndiaye (Columbus International Fencing Academy & Queen City Fencers Club)
Bronze: Marcello Olivares (New York Athletic Club & V Fencing Club)
5th: Marsel Nagimov (Columbia University & Silicon Valley Fencing Center)
6th: Daniel Zhang (Star Fencing Academy)
7th: Jayden Hooshi (East Coast Fencing Club)
8th: Jack Oursler (Manhattan Fencing Center & University of Notre Dame)
Parafencing Women’s Epee
Gold: Cora Weeks (German Fencing Academy)
Silver: Julie Grant (Salle Auriol Seattle)
Parafencing Men’s Epee
Gold: Tareq Alqallaf (Zeljkovic Fencing Academy)
Silver: Abe Kaplan (Greensboro Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Sean Glass (Hong Kong)
Bronze: Nicholas Badeaux (Fencing Institute of Texas & Invictus Fencing)
5th: Noah Hanssen PLY (Maryland)
6th: Matthew Pevoto (Houston Sword Sports)
7th: James Downing (Denver Fencing Center)
Cadet Women's Epee
Gold: Chloe (CJ) Tolsma (Alliance Fencing Academy)
Silver: Melinda Yao (Alliance Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Scarlett Lee (New York Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Angela Song (Cavalier Fencing Club)
5th: Amy Ai (Canada)
6th: Zoe Wang (Cavalier Fencing Club & Denver Fencing Center)
7th: Yanka Sobus (New England)
8th: Vivian Young (Olympian Fencing Club)
Veteran Team Women’s Foil
Gold: United Nations (Judith Bassik, Inga Cho, Ritva Irene Enright, and Polina McGrath)
Silver: Triple Threat (Nora Gutkovskaya, Kathleen Hermes, Kathleen Reckling, and Joanne Stevens)
Bronze: What the F...oil! (Traci Sethre, Julie Seal, Bonnie Hennig-Trestman, and Kathryn Pierrynowski)
Veteran Team Men’s Foil
Gold: Fencers Club (Philippe Bennett, Frets Olivares, Roustam Pimoutkine, and Marek Wyszynski)
Silver: The Team for 2025 (James Flanagan, Dong-Ying Pai, Julian Tang, and Zhiyong Zhao)
Bronze: All Gas No Brakes (Talon Frost, Michael Green, Craig Harkins, and Mitchell Lane)
Veteran Team Men’s Epee
Gold: New Vets (Nicholas (Nick) Hallman, Tommi Hurme, and Josh Potter)
Silver: Salle Auriol Seattle (John Varney, Vadim Makmatov, Jordan Stock, and Travis Exum)
Bronze: East Bay Fencers 2 (Paul Chandler, Justin Hunter, Keith Lichten, and Matt Maychrowitz)
Vet-40 Women’s Epee
Gold: Holly Buechel (Cornell University Collegiate Fencing Club)
Silver: Christina Kaneshige (Denver Fencing Center & Polaris Fencing Center)
Bronze: Jasmine McGlade (Northern Colorado Fencers)
Bronze: Kira Hansen (Academy of Fencing Masters)
5th: Caterina Rovati (Orlando Fencing Sports Center LLC)
6th: Nicole Polanichka (Lancaster Fencing Academy & DC Fencers Club)
7th: Haejung Hofman (Academy of Fencing Masters)
8th: Michelle Ostrikoff (Canada)
Vet-50 Women’s Epee
Gold: Kristin Foellmer (DC Fencers Club)
Silver: Sabina Chernis (Alliance Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Marie-Claire Bélanger (Canada)
Bronze: Heidi Chang (Academy of Fencing Masters & NEMA Fencing Center)
5th: Sandra Marchant (Rogue Fencing Academy & The Phoenix Center)
6th: Jane Carter (Marx Fencing Academy & Tanner City Fencers Club)
7th: Michele Carey (Bozeman Fencing Association)
8th: Lisa Wolf (Riverside Fencing Club)
Vet-60 Women’s Epee
Gold: Amy Montoya (Battle Born Fencing Club)
Silver: Suzanne Bloomer (Academy of Fencing Masters & University of Alaska Fairbanks Fencing Club)
Bronze: Vera Belaoussoff (Canada)
Bronze: Valerie Asher (DC Fencers Club)
5th: Cynthia Glover (Rain City Fencing Center & Salle Auriol Seattle)
6th: Lyn Christian (Denver Fencing Center & Schoolhouse Fencing)
7th: MJ Jensen (Olympia Fencing Center)
8th: Georgina Love (Space Coast Olympic Fencing)
Vet-70 Women’s Epee
Gold: Charlotta Bowie (Modern Duelists Fencing Academy)
Silver: Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Connecticut Fencers Club & Marx Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Erica Julien (Forge Fencing Teams DUR & Cape Fear Fencing Association)
Bronze: Anna Telles (Salle Auriol Seattle)
5th: Henri Gales (Charlotte Fencing Academy)
6th: Anne-Marie Walters (Masters Fencing Club)
7th: Bettie Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)
8th: Claire Hanamoto (Hangtown Saber Club & Davis Fencing Academy)
Vet-80 Women’s Epee
Gold: Erica Julien (Forge Fencing Teams DUR & Cape Fear Fencing Association)
Silver: Patricia Bedrosian (Salle Couturier)
Bronze: Bettie Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)
Bronze: Mary Turzillo (Northern Ohio)
Vet-40 Men’s Saber
Gold: Joseph Greene (Denver Fencing Center)
Silver: David Tsung (Manhattan Fencing Center & Cardinal Fencing Club)
Bronze: Pietro Ferraro (Capital Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Ahmed Refai (Southern California Fencing Academy)
5th: Jeffrey Kallio (Forge Fencing Teams DUR)
6th: Derek Plonka (Avant Garde Fencers Club)
7th: William Chang (Capital Fencing Academy & Fencing Sports Academy)
8th: Yujie Zong (Zeta Fencing)
Vet-50 Men’s Saber
Gold: Ronald Thornton (Capital Fencing Academy)
Silver: Kim Phillips (Zeta Fencing)
Bronze: Richard Colter (Denver Fencing Center)
Bronze: Michael Bacon (Manhattan Fencing Center)
5th: Joshua Bush (Lincoln Fencing Club)
6th: Vladislav Samotessov (Infinity Fencing Alliance)
7th: Robert Penton (Triple Threat Fencing Academy)
8th: Tony Escueta Jr. (Globus Fencing Academy)
Vet-60 Men’s Saber
Gold: Val Kizik (IndySabre)
Silver: Chris Matt (Capital Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Joshua Runyan (Spartak)
Bronze: William Becker (Jacksonville Fencing Club)
5th: Stephen Dashnaw (Lilov Fencing Academy)
6th: Will Milne (The Fencing Center)
7th: Todd Bukowski (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)
8th: Donald Lear (Southwest Florida Fencing Academy)
Vet-70 Men’s Saber
Gold: Jacaeber Kastor (Manhattan Fencing Center)
Silver: Donald Malnati (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)
Bronze: Garik Gutman (Capital Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Joseph Streb (Columbus International Fencing Academy & Royal Arts Fencing Academy)
5th: C. David Seuss (Fencing Academy of Boston)
6th: Michael Szathmary (Middle Tennessee Fencing Club)
7th: Keith Baker (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)
8th: Alfred Lara (Oregon Fencing Alliance & Eugene Fencers Club)
Vet-80 Men’s Saber
Gold: Vic Bianchini (Spartak)
Silver: James Brykczynski (Bucks County Academy of Fencing)
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