The next set of beginning classes will start at the end of July.  These meet twice a week, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, and will run for four and a half weeks.  Manchester classes meet Mondays and Wednesdays, starting July 30.  Rochester classes meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting July 31.  The cost is $195, and this includes the use of all necessary equipment.  

So watch fencing in the Olympics this summer while learning to fence!  For more information, call (603) 428-7040, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

This is it, the last meet of the season!  And this time, our team meet is being held in Rochester.  Yes, this is the first meet to ever be held in the Rochester branch of Seacoast Fencing Club.

This is our usual team meet, appropriate for all unclassified juniors and adults, and youths, and children.   All events start at 10:00 am, on Saturday June 14.  Be there a half hour early.  We will be using the collegiate format, a series of five touch bouts.  New fencers:  It is a perfect way to start fencing electric-  lots of help from our experienced fencers, and lots of fun!

 Rated foil fencers can enter the relay team meet at 1:30 pm.  All epee fencers (including unrated) can enter the relay epee, also at 1:30 pm.

Please let me know if you are able to come.  Manchester fencers, lets support the Rochester meet!  After all, they have been traveling to meets in Manchester for 13 years!

Rated fencers:  Please come in and help direct and coach the morning events.  I will provide lunch, and you can fence the epee and rated foil relay team events in the afternoon for free!  Plus, the morning people need your help (just as you did when you started out).

Feel free to visit the other club this summer!

Seacoast Fencing Club had a great day at the Unclassified and Y-12 meet this weekend.  Our members won two of the three events, came in second in two, and took third in all three. The Mixed (both men and women competing), Epee Unclassified event was a sweep by Seacoast fencers. It was won by Will Carbery, with John Strauss, second, and John Wolfe third. The Mixed Foil Unclassified was won by John Strauss, with Will Carbery third.  In the Youth 12 and under Mixed Foil, Seacoast fencers Ryleigh Lorimer was second, and Peter Shellenberger was third.

Seacoast Fencing Club in Manchester, NH hosted four C level events at a tournament organized by the Northeast Division of the United States Fencing Association, drawing fencers from New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Seacoast Fencing Club had an exceptional day, with its fencers winning three of the four events, taking second place in the fourth event, and placing third in all of them.

The Mixed (both men and women competing), Epee C event was won by Ethan Miller, a Seacoast fencer from Mont Vernon, NH. His teammate Yang Tang, from Londonderry, NH, was third. The Women’s Epee C was won by Kate Cavanaugh, from Portsmouth, NH. Cavanaugh trains at both Seacoast Fencing Club locations, in Rochester and Manchester. Her Seacoast teammate, Victoria Kerkhove, of Exeter, NH, was third. In the Women’s Foil C, Yvonne Walton of Londonderry won the gold. She also finished third in the Mixed Foil C. Walton is an assistant coach at Seacoast Fencing Club in Manchester. Alexandra Van De Water of Bow, NH, another Seacoast fencer, was second in the Mixed Foil C, and also took third in the Women‘s Foil C.

Seacoast Fencing Club in Manchester will be hosting the Junior Olympic Qualifiers on Saturday and Sunday, December 15 and 16. Those who qualify will compete against 1800 other fencers in Charlotte, NC, February 15-18.

What a championship season Seacoast is having!  We’ve held the U19, U16, Y14, Y12, Y10, and Junior and Senior Team Division Championships, and Seacoast has been terrific, winning nearly half the medals awarded.  Congratulations, Seacoast Fencers! 

The Seacoast young women have been dominant this season, having earned the gold medal in over half the events.  In Y14 events, we swept the Women’s Foil, with Connie Su first, Victoria Kerkhove second, and Kelsey Kimball third.  In Women’s Epee, Victoria was first, and in Women’s Saber, Isabella Connelly was second (our first saber entry in over four years).  In the U16 Championships, Kate Cavanaugh was first in Women’s Epee, with Victoria Kerkhove second.  In Women’s Foil, Alexandra Van De Water was first, and Connie Su third.  The U19 Women’s Foil Championships had 15 year old Alexandra Van De Water second, and 13 year old Connie Su third, and in Women’s Epee 14 year old Victoria Kerkhove was second.  An in the Y12 foil, Ryleigh Lorimer won the gold medal.  That is 2/3 of all the medals earned in women’s events in the Division!

The Seacoast young men have been doing an excellent job as well.  In U16 Men’s Epee, Tristan Strauss was first, and Yang Tang was second.  In the U16 Men’s Foil, Yang Tang was second again.   In the U19 Championships, Tristan Strauss was second in Men’s Epee, and Tom Ronan was third.  In Men’s Foil, John Wolfe was second, and Yang Tang was third.  And in Y10 foil, Addis Gregory was second, and Peter Shellenberger was third.   

Seacoast had only one contested event in the U19 Team Championships, in Men’s Foil, which we won.  Our Men’s Epee, Women’s Foil, and Women’s Epee teams had no opponents, which was very disappointing, but we qualified all four of our teams to the Summer National Championships.

Additionally, at the Division Senior Team Championships, with mostly junior fencers, Seacoast finished  second in Women’s Foil, Men’s Epee, and Men’s Saber.  And at the Veteran’s events (held the same day, Ron Raiselis was second in Mixed Saber and third in Mixed Foil.  John Terninko was third in Mixed Saber.

Seacoast had a great weekend at the qualifiers for the Junior Olympics.  Our U-17 women won both contested events, with Kate Cavanaugh winning the epee (she also qualified in foil), and Alex Van De Water winning the foil, and also qualifying in U-20 foil with a third place finish.  Yang Tang, training exclusively in foil, was the upset silver medalist in U-17 men’s epee, and will be joining the team at the JO’s in February.  Our other medal winners were Tom Ronan, second in U-20 men’s epee, John Wolfe, third in U-17 foil, and Victoria Kerkhove, third in foil. Our other qualifiers were Cole Davis in U-20 men’s foil, and Andrew Soule-Hinds in U-20 men’s epee.  My thanks go out to all the Seacoast fencers who participated this weekend, and congratulations to all eight qualifiers.  Good luck in Denver! 

We had a good tournament in Albuquerque NM this November, with six fencers competing in ten events.  Abby Emerson led the group with a fifth place finish in U-20 Women’s Foil.  With her 12th place finish in the Junior World Cup in Bratislava, Slovakia, Abby is now 6th on the National Point standings. 

Victoria Kerkhove finished 31st in Y-14 Women’s Epee, and became our latest fencer to earn national points, and is currently ranked 44th in the USFA point standings.  Congratulations, Abby and Victoria!

The Dover operation is over, and we are moving into our new building in Rochester. The new facility is about 12 miles north of Dover, just 90 seconds from exit 14 on the Spaulding Turnpike. By Spring, it will have eight electric strips (six now), both men’s and women’s locker rooms, two bathrooms, and seating for parents.  So classes and all training groups will start in September in Rochester.

The address is 261 North Main St, across the street from Burger King and Home Depot.  The phone number is 330-3223.  Directions to Rochester.

Congratulations to the many Seacoast Fencers who have earned medals at our many Divison Championships this past weekend!

Our Champions so far:  The U-19 Men’s Foil Team (Cole Davis, Andrew Soule-Hinds, Ethan Miller, and Ian Hocking).  This was one of only two contested U-19 team events. 

In the Y-14 Championship, we swept women’s foil, with Alex Van De Water winning, and Victoria Kerkhove second, and Kate Cavanaugh third.  Kate Cavanaugh was the champion in women’s epee, and Victoria Kerkhove was second.  In men’s foil, Yang Tang took first, and John Wolfe was third.  In men’s epee, Yang Tang was second, and Tristan Strauss was third.  Seacoast Y-14 fencers took three gold, three silver, and three bronze- half the medals awarded!  All these fencers qualify for the National Championships in Atlanta, GA this Summer. 

In Y-12, Alex Husslage was the gold medalist, with teammate Kelsey Kimball taking silver.  In Y-10 mixed foil, William Collibee was third.

Our Open Team Championships ended with Secoast teams taking second in all three contested events, with three different clubs taking the gold.  Our teams were men’s epee (Scott Eriksen, Tom Ronan, and Ethan Miller); men’s foil (Cole Davis, Kevin Eriksen, and Ron Raiselis); and women’s epee (Kerry Walton, Danielle Haddad, and Maureen Anderson). 

A special thanks to our blasts from the past, former national champions Kevin and Scott Eriksen, and their cousin, Kerry Walton, who came out that day to fence for their alma mater, Seacoast Fencing Club.  It was great to have them fence for us again!