Fencing, Fencing World Cup

Jeff Spear Earns Bye to Table of 64 in Madrid

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Seven of the ten Americans competing in pool play at the World Cup event in Madrid advanced on Friday but headlining the bunch was Jeff Spear who went a perfect 6-0 to grab one of 16 available byes to the table of 64 from pool play. Also finishing with winning records in pool play were Philippe Guy, Evan Prochniak, Will Spear, and Colin Campbell. Going winless on the day and being eliminated were Peter Sounders, Deniz Berkay, and Gabriel Armijo. While Spear, Daryl Homer, and Eli Dershwitz have byes to the table of 64 the other six Americans will have to win two matches to reach the table of 64.

Over in St. Petersburg all four of the Americans competing, Alexander Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt, Race Imboden, and Miles Chamley-Watson, will start play in the table of 64. The complete individual knockout rounds will take place on Saturday in both cities.

Finally in Foshan Monica Aksamit went a perfect 6-0 in pool play to earn a spot in the table of 64. Francesca Russo, Kamali Thompson, and Sage Palmedo all won their preliminary matches to advance to the table of 64 where the US will have six athletes.

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Madrid, Foshan, and St. Petersburg Preview

ITU World Triathlon Series, Triathlon

Gwen Jorgensen Headlines 13 Americans Taking Part in Yokohama Triathlon

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After being defeated for the first time in two years in the Gold Coast Triathlon and not participating in Cape Town Gwen Jorgensen will try to start a new winning streak as she competes in the Yokohama Triathlon on Saturday. Jorgensen isn’t the only American who is a threat to win, Renee Tomlin and Kirsten Kasper both have top five finishes this year (Tomlin in Abu Dhabi, Kasper in Cape Town), while Katie Zaferes was sixth in Gold Coast and Sarah True was ninth in Cape Town.

On the men’s side Joe Malloy, sixth in Gold Coast, and Gregory Billington, tenth in Gold Coast, give the US contenders as well.

Previous IRU World Triathlon Series Coverage:
Cape Town Recap

Diamond League, Track and Field

Top US Track and Field Athletes Head to Diamond League in Shanghai

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The second diamond league event of 2016 is Saturday in Shanghai, China and the US has a large number of athletes in the field. 29 US athletes are in the field for the events including several of last year’s top finishers. Justin Gatlin and Michael Rodgers finished first and third in last year’s 100m overall standings and both are here competing in Shanghai. The same is true of David Oliver and Jason Richardson who were first and fourth in the 110m hurdles. Sam Kendricks was tied for third in the pole vault last year and opens his 2016 campaign here. Jeff Henderson was the third of three US men in the top six of the long jump last season but is the only one competing Saturday. Joe Kovacs is the defending shot put champion with Ryan Whiting in the field after a sixth place overall finish last year.

Candyce McGrone was fourth last year in the 200m (thanks to a win in Monaco) and is competing this weekend. Also fourth last year and beginning this weekend are Natasha Hastings in the 400m and Jenny Simpson in the 1500m. The defending long jump champion, Tianna Bartoletta, is also in the field.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Doha Recap

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Joe Dombrowski a Solid 23rd in Stage Six of Giro d’Italia

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Joe Dombrowski made it four different top American finishers in four stages at the Giro d’Italia as he posted a 23rd place finish on Thursday, the second best stage finish by an American so far. Tim Wellens of Belgium ran away with the stage winning by 1:19 and Dombrowski was part of a group just 24 seconds behind second place. Dombrowski jumped into 56th overall. Nathan Brown made it two in the top 50 with a 49th place finish, 4:03 back, and is 53rd overall. Ian Boswell is still the top American overall, 10:53 back in 50th, and was 65th on Thursday. Chad Haga made it four Americans in the top 100 with a 76th place finish.

Friday will be a 131-mile hilly stage as the competition heads into its second weekend.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
Day 4 Update
Day 5 Update

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Ashley Twichell and Connor Jaeger Win on First Day of Arena Pro Swim Series

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On the first night of the Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series event Americans won both of the events contested. In the opening women’s 1500m freestyle it was Ashley Twichell holding off Chilean Kristel Kobrich to win with Gillian Ryan in third. Americans went 1-2 in the men’s 800m with Connor Jaeger about 2.5 seconds ahead of Zane Grothe.

Five events will be held on Friday with men’s and women’s versions of each event. The 200m freestyle will feature Connor Dwyer, three for three in going for gold in that event this year. The women’s 100m breaststroke has several Americans who have had success this year, Katie Meili victorious twice in two tries and Andee Cottrell who was third in the season opening Minneapolis event. The men’s side is set to feature Sam Tierney and Cody Miller, the duo that went 1-2 in Minneapolis. Tierney was also third in Austin. The 50m backstroke is being held for the first time this year.

The 100m butterfly featuring an interesting battle between Kelsi Worrell and Dana Vollmer. They have gone head-to-head twice so far this season and each won one and finished runner-up in the other. Vollmer also raced one other time and finished second in Austin. The men’s race will feature Tom Phillips, third place in Austin, and none of the winners of the first four races this season. Finally in the 400m individual medley Cammile Adams had a second place finish in Mesa and a big name is on the men’s side, Ryan Lochte who won in his only entry in Austin.

Previous Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Preview

 

Men's World League, Water Polo

USA as Good as Qualified for Water Polo World League After Defeating Kazakhstan

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The US men, now 3-0 in qualifying for the Water Polo World League, are as good as qualified from the six team intercontinental tournament. A 19-7 win over Kazakhstan makes the US 3-0 with an uncompetitive China team still to come. Bret Bonanni was the offensive star scoring nine goals in the game. John Mann and Alex Roelse each had three goals. McQuin Barron had a team-high five saves in.

The US will face 2-1 Brazil on Friday. Brazil has qualified for the last four World Leagues and finished third last year, defeating the US in the bronze medal game on penalties.

Previous FINA Intercontinental Qualification Tournament Coverage:
Preview
Australia Recap
Japan Recap

ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Serena Williams and Madison Keys Both in Quarterfinals at Italian Open

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Madison Keys and #1 Serena Williams both needed just two sets to reach the quarterfinals on Thursday. Keys needed a tiebreaker to take the first set from Timea Babos of Hungary but pulled away in the second for a 7-6(2), 6-3 win. Williams took a similar path in defeating fellow American Christina McHale, who had advanced to the third round all the way from qualifying. Williams won her match 7-6(7), 6-1 and now faces #9 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia on Friday evening. Keys will take on Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic on Friday afternoon. The two are on opposite sides of the bracket so they would not meet until the final if they keep winning.

In women’s doubles action Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears got their second win of the tournament when they beat #8 Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3. They’ll play again on Friday when they face #1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India. The other American left in doubles, Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost her opener as the #2 seed with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 4-6 to Andreja Klepac and Katrina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

In men’s doubles #5 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will face #4 Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil on Friday while #8 Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil of Canada face Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Marcel Granollers of Spain.

Previous Italian Open Coverage:
Preview
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update

Archery, Archery World Cup

Four Americans Reach Finals at Archery World Cup in Medellin

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Three Americans reached individual finals as the knockout rounds progressed on Thursday at the Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia and the US also got a pair into a mixed team final. The US qualified one finalist in each of the individual competitions except for the women’s recurve. There was only one American left, #43 Lauren Clamon and she lost her opening match of the day to #11 Hui Cao of China 7-3.

#2 Brady Ellison is the banner carrier for the US men in the recurve competition after advancing to the gold medal final. Ellison won his first two matches 7-1 before a hotly contested quarterfinal matchup with fellow American #7 Jake Kaminski. Ellison won 6-4 to set up a big time showdown in the semifinals with #3 Bonchan Ku of Korea. The matchup was as tight as expected with Ellison needing a tiebreaker upset to defeat Ku 6-5. Ellison will face #9 Miguel Alvarino Garcia of Spain in the final on Sunday. #29 Colin Klimitchek advanced twice on 6-2 wins, including one over #4 Seungyun Lee of Korea, before being eliminated by #5 Hideki Kikuchi of Japan 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Ellison and Erin Mickelberry needed a tiebreaker to advance 5-4 in the first round over Cuba and were shutout 6-0 by #1 seed Korea in the quarterfinals of the mixed recurve event. Things went a little better in the mixed compound competition where the #1 seeded pair of Crystal Gauvin and Alex Wifler won 155-150 to reach the semifinals where they nearly took out the #4 Italian team but were defeated on a tiebreaker after scoring 154-154. They will face #7 France for Bronze on Saturday.

Gauvin will be busy on Saturday as she’ll also be competing for the gold in the individual compound final. #2 Gauvin wasn’t pushed until the quarterfinals where she pulled out a 140-138 win over #10 Alejandra Usquiano of Colombia. It was even tighter when she faced #3 Sarah Sonnichsen of Denmark in the semifinals but she posted the highest score by anyone in the knockout rounds and reached the final after a narrow 147-146 win. Gauvin took out fellow American Emily Bee in the second round 145-141 while in opening round matches Dhalia Crook lost to Irene Franchini of Italy 142-140 and Lexi Keller lost to #8 Toja Cerne of Slovenia 144-141. Gauvin’s opponent in the final will be #1 Sara Lopez of Colombia.

On the men’s side it was a change of fortune from the qualifying as lowest seeded American, but #18 overall, Reo Wilde went on a run to the gold medal final. Wilde pulled upsets by seed in every round to reach the final. In the round of 16 that was a tiebreak winning 147-147 match against #2 Stephan Hansen of Denmark. The exact same thing with the exact same score happened in the quarterfinals, but this time the victim was #7 seed and fellow American Steve Anderson. In the semifinals Wilde rose up to a 148 and won 148-147 over #3 Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands. The top American qualifiers had some disappointment in their matches. #6 Braden Gellenthien suffered an upset when he lost 146-145 to Delobelle Fabien of France and #1 Wifler was knocked out in the round of 16 by #16 Sergio Pagni of Italy on a tiebreaker after a 148-148 match. Pagni will face Wilde in the final.

Friday is the last day of non-finals as the men’s and women’s team events narrow down to the finalists.

Previous Archery World Cup Coverage:
Medellin Preview
Wednesday Recap

ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Madison Keys and Christina McHale Pull Upsets to Reach Third Round at Italian Open

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Madison Keys has been good all year but after missing out on a seed in Rome and drawing #5 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the second round there was certainly potential for an early exit. Instead Keys swept Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday and now has no more seeded players in her path to the semifinals after a couple of other upsets. Keys next opponent will be Timea Babos of Hungary after Babos upset #12 Venus Williams 6(5)-7, 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday. Also pulling an upset but lacking the good draw from here is Christina McHale. McHale needed to battle back after dropping a first-set tiebreaker to #13 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia but pulled off the upset 6(3)-7, 6-4, 6-1. The reward for McHale is a matchup with #1 Serena Williams on Thursday, and of course Williams has had a day off.

In women’s doubles action Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears defeated the Chinese team of Chen Liang and Yafan Wang 6-2, 6-3 and now will face #8 Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Another American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands begins doubles play as the #2 seed with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic as they take on Andreja Klepac and Katrina Srebotnik of Slovenia. The Slovenians knocked out the Williams sisters in the first round.

Over in men’s doubles #5 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan just barely found separation against Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey as the matchup was eventually decided in a match tiebreak that ended 13-11 to the Bryan brothers. Johnson/Querrey had taken set one 6-4 but lost the second 6-3. Also advancing was Jack Sock who won two tiebreakers with Vasek Pospisil of Canada as the #8 seeds defeated Treat Huey of the Philippines and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6(4), 7-6(2). Both men’s doubles teams will be off on Thursday before playing in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Previous Italian Open Coverage:
Preview
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update

Wrestling

Days After Disappointment Frank Molinaro Gets a Second Chance and a Spot in Rio

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US wrestler Frank Molinaro thought his Olympic dreams were dead on Sunday after he lost in the quarterfinals of the final Olympic qualifying tournament. With no spot left to battle for Molinaro fought hard the rest of the way to finish third and finish with his head held high. Three days later Molinaro got amazing news that after failed doping tests in some previous European and Asian competitions the United World Wrestling had redistributed some of the Olympic qualifying spots and one of those was being awarded to Molinaro.

Molinaro’s inclusion gives the US 14 athletes in Rio and competitors in all six of the men’s freestyle events. While the 14 is still a setback after having 17 in London it’s tied for second behind Russia for Rio.

USA Wrestling Announcement

Covering America's Athletes