Zander Rhodes, 13, with her coach Serge Vaskevich. Rhodes won Gold in the Junior Women’s Foil event at the Mission Regional Junior Cadet Circuit on Long Island, N.Y.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – Thirteen-year-old national foil fencing champion Zander Rhodes won Gold in the Junior Women’s Foil event at the Mission Regional Junior Cadet Circuit 2016 (Region 3) tournament held on Long Island, N.Y. This A3 rated event attracted 73 top-level fencers from many states and earned Rhodes her A 2016 rating.
Rhodes demonstrated enormous tenacity, as well as outstanding fencing, in order to rise from her difficult pool bouts which seeded her at No. 18, before the direct elimination bouts. She displayed a maturity and perseverance beyond her years, to work her way convincingly through the direct elimination bouts to finally defeat Sophia Mandour from Baltimore in the finals, 15-10, and take Gold.
Rhodes, who is in grade 8 at South Orange Middle School, remains under the tutelage of former Ukrainian international fencing champion, Serge Vashkevich, at the V Fencing Club in Livingston.
Coach Vashkevich said, “Zander is really fencing at a high level and translating all that she is learning in her training onto the tournament strips. I am very excited about her future in fencing.”
Rhodes placed eighth in the Cadet Women’s Foil B2C3 event with 64 competitors at this same tournament. She once again showed perseverance and excellent fencing during the direct elimination bouts after being seeded at No. 34 in a difficult pool. She took eighth place after being defeated by Catherine Flanagan from Westchester, 15-8.
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