July 12, 2009

The Lincoln Fencing Club(LFC) just finished a week of fencing at the United States Fencing Association’s Nationals held in Dallas, Texas. The Lincoln Fencing Club traveled with 12 fencers and competed in more than 20 different events in Dallas, Texas this past week. The events included Division IA, Division II, Division III and youth events in foil, epee and sabre. The sabre events proved to be the most successful. LFC returns today with a National Championship in Division II Women’s Sabre earned by Rachel Arkebauer; One Bronze medal in Division IA won by Kimberly Shrader; One Bronze medal in Division III taken by Brad Tucker and 6th place medal in Division III by Michelle Weinbaum. The Women’s Sabre Team included Kimberly Shrader, Rachel Arkebauer and Michelle Weinbaum placed 8th in the nation out of 26 teams in that event.

The week long tournament concluded with the most exciting Division II Women’s Sabre event. Arkebauer was seeded 26th after three wins and two losses in the pool round; she fought her way through seven direct elimination bouts to win the first gold medal for a Nebraskan in Women’s Sabre. She had to defeat fencers from all over the country including those from Philadelphia, Texas, New York, and New Jersey. Arkebauer is 17 years old, has been fencing for four years and will be a senior at Lincoln Southwest High School in the fall. She hopes to go to Columbia University and study neurology. She is coached by Joshua Bush and Kristian Anderson of the Lincoln Fencing Club.

The Lincoln Fencing Club’s mission is to provide a safe, family-centered, personally-challenging fencing program which develops people as well as fencers. The LFC welcomes new fencers of all ages and skill levels and provides equipment for those who wish to use it. The new season’s fencing classes are scheduled to begin in September. Visit www.lincolnfencingclub.com for more information.