The 2016 Powerade State Games fencing competition is in the books. The Powerade State Games are North Carolina’s largest multi-sport festival and one of the largest State Games programs in the United States. On Friday, the threatening weather held off, and our athletes gathered for the Opening Ceremony & Parade of Athletes. Then on Saturday, our fencers competed against fellow fencers from North & South Carolina at St. David’s School in Raleigh.

In the youth events, Bilal & Sophia got us started on the podium with a silver and bronze respectively in Mixed Y12 Epee. In Y12 Mixed Foil, Abel, Maddie & Conner competed in a field of 10. Conner lost to his sister Maddie in a brother-sister showdown in the DEs. When it was over, Abel took home silver and Maddie bronze.

Senior Men’s Epee was an extremely tough field with Andrew, the Labaza twins, Nick and Devin representing Apex Fencing Academy. Andrew fought for every point throughout the DEs reaching the podium for silver in Cadet & Junior and bronze in Senior with a thrilling 15-14 win over Alex Shalaurov.

Senior Men’s Foil wasn’t as deep as epee, but it was just as tough. Xan, Aidan, Daniel and Doug competed. Xan’s 6th place finish brought him closest to the medals for AFA.

Representing Apex Fencing Academy in Senior Women’s Epee were Sam, Nayeli & Tammy. Sam took home a triple-gold for Cadet, Junior & Senior.

Sam added to her collection with a triple-bronze in Senior Women’s Foil.

Proving you’re never too old to fence, Tammy & Doug competed against much younger competition in the Senior events. Tammy scored a Vet gold in epee along with a Vet silver in foil. Doug stepped up to the podium for a Vet silver in foil.

If my count is correct, we had 17 fencers participate winning 19 medals. Congratulations to everyone who fenced their heart out. There were lots of tough bouts, and many of our fencers won bouts against fencers they had never beaten before. We have seen progress in our fencers even if the results don’t always show it. If you’re coming to camp, continue to work hard and make the most of your time there. Ditto your private lessons during the summer. If you’re going to Summer Nationals, the season’s not over yet. Believe in yourself, learn from this weekend, get your mind ready, and know you’ve put in the time, effort and training to fence to your potential.

Finally, a special thank you to the parents supporting their fencers. We really do enjoy working with all of our students and it is an honor to be there and help them through their struggles and enjoy their successes.

As always, full results can be found on askFRED.