Day 2 of USFA Nationals

Day 2 of Shawn's participation in the USFA Summer Nationals was on Monday 7/30/2006.  Check out Day 1 at USFA Nationals for some previous results.  Also check out the pictures that I posted that were taken during our trip. 

Wake up call at 5:30 am was surprisingly on time.  We headed to breakfast at 6:25am and then we hurried to the lobby to request out car.  How many valets does it take to find your keys you ask?  Well more than two.  After a 12 minute wait I headed in the room to assist in the search.  I searched high and low and finally found them laying on the floor.  Meanwhile Denise stood anxiously starring at her watch as the time we were supposed to check into the fencing tournament arrived.  We hurried on to the World Congress Center and fortunately when we arrived at 7:15am there was no line.  So Shawn checked in for his much anticipated saber event, hurried to base camp to wait to be summoned to the "Piste" (fencing strip).

Shawn's saber event had 97 other fencers.  The initial seading based on previous tournament results placed Shawn in 58.  This meant he fell pretty close to the middle of the other fencers.  After the pools are completed the seeding would be re-evaluated and Shawn would be matched up with his first Direct Elimination opponent. 

The pools started at 8:50am and completed at 9:40am.  Shawn fenced 6 bouts during the pool.  Shawn won 1 and lost 5 bouts.  Most of the bouts were very close and Shawn made them very exciting.  His last bout was where he earned his win.  Shawn used a fencing technique called the line to lure his opponent into a failed attack and then he scored by striking on the opponet's right side.  This worked for 3 of the five points during this bout.  The final score of this bout was 5 to 1 with Shawn as the victor.  Shawn moved up one spot in the seeding after the pools were completed.

After the pools the Direct Elimination (DE) tournament began on strip 44 of the venue.  Shawn's opponent was a little shorter than he was which was an advantage by reach for Shawn.  The DE is a best 2 out of 3 bouts that are 5 points each.  Shawn started off with the first bout on a win that was 5 to 3.  Very impressive start!!  The second bout went to Shawn's opponent in a 2 to 5 loss.  It was going to have to go to the 3rd and final bout to determine who was going to advance to the next round.  This sure makes a parent nervous watching your child get so close to winning his first National DE.  But Shawn ended up coming a little short on the points and he lost the bout 5 to 3. 

Well we once again are very proud of Shawn at how well he did in the USFA Summer Nationals of 2006!  He showed so much determination at doing his best and being a real winner even if he did not advance into the finals of the tournament.  Shawn had a lot of fun doing this tournament and we can all expect to see him at the next Summer Nations that will take place in Miami, Florida next year around the fourth of July.