The information I have is that the tournament will be held on Saturday, the 24th of February. As more details become available I will pass them on.

USFA 2000-01 Event Schedules

FENCING AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES, Sydney, AUS, 9/16/2000-9/24/2000
NAC DIVISION II/III/CADET, Greensboro, NC, 10/13/2000-10/16/2000
NAC YOUTH/CADET/JUNIOR, Denver, CO, 11/3/2000-11/6/2000
PAN AM JUNIOR/CADET CHAMPS., MEXICO, 11/19/2000-11/24/2000
NAC DIVISION I/VETERAN, Ontario, CA, 12/8/2000-12/10/2000
NAC JUNIOR/DIVISION I/WHEELCHAIR, Greenville, SC, 1/12/2001-1/15/2001
JUNIOR OLYMPICS, tba, 2/16/2001-2/19/2001
NAC DIVISION II/III/VETERAN, Kansas City, MO, 3/16/2001-3/19/2001
NAC YOUTH, tba, 3/30/2001-4/1/2001
WORLD CUP MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SABER, Peabody, MA, 3/30/2001-4/1/2001
JUNIOR/CADET WORLD CHAMPS., Gdansk, POL, 4/9/2001-4/16/2001
WHEELCHAIR WORLD CUP, Louisville, KY, 4/13/2001-4/15/2001
VETERAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS/NAC DIVISION I, Reno, NV, 4/27/2001-4/29/2001
WORLD CUP WOMEN'S FOIL, Rochester, NY, 6/16/2001-6/17/2001
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, Sacramento, CA, 7/3/2001-7/11/2001
MACCABIAH GAMES, Tel Aviv, ISR, 7/7/2001-7/26/2001
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES, Beijing, CHN, 8/22/2001-9/1/2001
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, Nîmes, FRA, 10/26/2001-11/1/2001

2000 ARMED FORCES FENCING TEAM

Team Captain: MAJ Don Scott, USMC

Team Coach: Mr. Abdel Salem, USAFA

From left to right. Back row: Marion (Italian Host); Luke Chilen; Chad Senior; Frets Olivares; Seth Kelsey; Abdel Salem (Coach) Front row: Don Scott (Team Captain, Chief of Missions); Joshua Runyan; Terry Orcutt; Chris Jones

The United States Armed Forces Fencing Team earned a bronze medal (men’s foil) in the 37th World Military Fencing Championship in Viterbo, Italy, June 16-23, 2000. This bronze medal was the first time in Armed Forces Fencing history that the United States Armed Forces Team has placed in an international fencing championship. The Men’s Foil 3rd place team was comprised of Frets Olivares, Christopher Jones and Luke Chilen. Additionally, USA’s Weston Kelsey placed 4th in Men’s epee, which was the highest place ever for an Armed Forces Fencer.

Viterbo was host to the 1995 Fencing Championships at the Military Games. Once again, the hanger of the airbase was used as the venue site. After a change in schedule from the initial invitation, everything ran smoothly and very professional.

USA took a bronze medal in Men’s team foil (Frets Olivares, Christopher Jones, Luke Chilen). First ever medal for USA in fencing. USA Weston Kelsey placed 4th in Men’s epee, highest ever placing for USA. Kelsey would have received the individual Bronze except that in the final match, Switzerland not only defeated Italy to win the Gold team medal, but the individual who defeated Italy to win the match, also earned the bronze by virtue of one victory over Kelsey. Joshua Runyan and Teresa Orcutt competed in Men’s Saber and Women’s Epee as the sole competitor.

Modern Pentathlon

The 32nd Modern Pentathlon-Military World Championships were held in Aarau Switzerland May 23-29, 2000. Fifteen nations competed with a total of 55 world-class athletes from The Czech Rep., Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, United States, Belarus, Slovakia, Italy, Russia, Hungry, Poland, France, Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania.

In the semi-final (an event used to select the top 32 athletes for the finals) Spc 4 Chad Senior stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado won first place in group B while his teammate, also from Fort Carson, Capt. Jim Gregory, won 7th place in group A. This was a good start as the competition was fierce.

In the individual championship finals, going into the run, the last event, a 3000-meter cross-country run, our highest score was Chad Senior at 6th place. This is an exciting event to watch as competitors are set off at intervals that correspond in seconds to the Pentathlon point's difference between themselves and the athlete in front. The running event has in this way a chase start and the first athlete across the finish line is the competition winner. Starting this last event in 6th place Chad knew he had to pass at least three people for the U.S. to have a medal. It was balls to the wall from the start gun with shouting and cheering from all the countries as Chad passed the 5th place runner Latvia, then 4th place Czech Rep., then 3rd place and finally trading places with number two Switzerland to win the silver individual medal for the United States. Capt. Jim Gregory (who won the sliver medal at The World Championships in 1999) finished in a very respectable 10th place.

The team relay competition was almost a repeat of the individual competition. Prior to the run-the last event-the U.S. Team of Capt. Gregory, Capt. Bouma USAF (from Denver, Colorado) and Spc 4 Chad Senior was in fifth place. This being the last event of the World Championships and all the teams were desperately trying for a medal-all athletes pushing to the limits for their country. Capt Dirk Bouma was our first runner in the relay and did a masterful job in setting the pace- passing Poland, Italy, and Sweden. Gregory and Senior held the pace and we ended up one step (literally) behind the Czech Republic for the silver medal.

The U.S. was the only country to win two medals in the overall competition-one individual and one team. The highest competitor in each single event of the competition was awarded a gold medal. Chad Senior was awarded gold for his run and swim, again the U.S. was the only country to win two medals in the single events. This was an exceptionally good hard fighting team. They worked together well and are role models for the other countries with their sportsmanship and military bearing.

Other members of our team were first time at the World Championships Cadet Eli Bremer-USAF Academy and Cadet Luke Chilen USAF Academy. Both were very helpful to out team efforts and gained valuable experience for future competition.

Our outstanding coach was Janisz Peciak. He has skillfully guided this team for the past three years.

Capt. Gregory was team captain and did a superb job, both as an athlete and as a leader. He is headed for Special Forces and will be a great loss to the team. Spc 4 Chad Senior is rated number 1 Modern Pentathlon athlete in the world. He has earned the right and has been selected to represent the United States at the Sidney Olympics.

A total of 56 military fencers gathered for the second annual Armed Forces Fencing Championship. This number is double the amount of last year's inaugural tournament. Thanks and congratulations go out to all who participated. The Air Force Academy cadets made a very strong showing . See the Results page for a complete listing of results. Many thanks to Coach Salem for organizing the tournament. A tentative date for next year's tournament has yet to be scheduled, but it will probably be some time in January or February.