Club News

Quote of the Week

August 6, 2007

"I'm not saying footwork is everything. But it is very, very important."

Last updated on August 6, 2007

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A New Season of Fencing

The 2007-2008 fencing season -- at least from the USFA's point of view -- has officially begun. So now would be a good time to renew your membership.

Students at BFC Timonium should be sure to check with Bin or their coaches regarding the new fall class schedule.

Baltimore Fencing Center members from both the Timonium and Columbia clubs went to this year's Summer Nationals, held in Miami, Florida. Several of our fencers made the final round of 8. In individual competition, Wes Weicht finished 3rd in the Cadet men’s epee competition; Steve Gross finished 5th and Bruce Milligan finished 6th in the Veteran 50-59 men’s foil competition. In team competition, BFC’s U19 men’s epee team, composed of Noah Weiner, Wes Weicht and Jake Weicht, finished 4th. Complete results may be found at this link: (http://www.usfencing.org/usfa/content/view/1799/131/).

With his fifth place finish, Steve Gross will be traveling to Australia for the Veteran World Championships. This will be his second year in a row competing at Vet. World Championships. Last year Steve placed 10th, the best ever result for an American Vet-50 foil fencer.

More Sort of Recent News

BFC Timonium epeeist Jake Weicht became the club's first Middle Atlantic Junior Champion the last weekend in April, when he topped a tough field of 51 competitors to win the tournament -- earning an "A" rating in the process. Full results of the Junior and Senior Sectional Championships can be found at Askfred.net.

On Friday, March 9, 2007, Baltimore Fencing Center Veteran 50-59 fencers Bruce Milligan and Steven Gross competed in the North America Circuit Veteran 50-59 event. Bruce Milligan won the event of 32 competitors while current defending national Veteran 50-59 champion Steve Gross took second place.

Special Congratulations go out to Lorenzo Casertano. Lorenzo, a Baltimore Fencing Center member since 2000, and currently at Columbia University, tied for 3rd place out of 228 in the Junior Men's Epee event. Lorenzo still fences and coaches at BFCT during his academic breaks.

Veterans World Championship Results In 1974, they were teammates at the U.S. National Championships in Hallandale, Florida. In 2006, Steve Gross and Bruce Milligan were among 400 veteran fencers from 22 countries who journeyed to Bath, England, to compete in the Veterans World Championships.

Competing in the Vets-50 Men's Foil event, Gross -- the reigning U.S. National Champion in this category -- placed tenth. This was the best result for any American foilist, in a tough pool of 29 fencers from 11 countries, including perennial powers France, Italy, and Germany. Milligan placed sixteenth. Both vowed to do better in next year's event, which will be held in Sydney, Australia.

Junior Team and Youth Team

The Junior and Youth team programs provide organization and support for kids to become successful competitive fencers in both local and national tournaments. Team practices are twice per week: one hour of mostly blade drills and one hour of physical conditioning. Team training focuses on setting and working towards goals, physical and mental conditioning, tournament management, refereeing, and armoring.

Enrollment in the Junior and Youth Teams is available to those middle school and high school students who have made a serious commitment to fencing, and it requires approval by Head Coach Bin Lu.