From An E To A C

TransGriot Note: I mentioned that Dawn spent the last few days of her vacation in San Jose, CA fencing in the US Summer Nationals tourney there. She said she was ready, so did Maestro Stawicki. I'll let her tell you in her own words how things transpired.

Guest post by Dawn Wilson

When I was growing up I had the distinct pleasure of hearing how athletic and competitive my family was. For example my uncle "Sweet" Lou Johnson hit two home runs, including the game winner while clinching Game Seven of the 1965 World Series for the LA Dodgers. My first cousin Jack "Goose" Givens scored 41 points to win the 1978 NCAA championship for UK. That competiive drive also extends to other sporting arenas as well. My whole family are equestrians and my aunt Mary Evelyn in Lexington, KY coached her junior high school football team to 11 straight championships.

You get the point.

When I started fencing, I was slow and uncoordinated. Four years later I am coordinated, fast and now a national medallist. It has not been an easy road. I did a lot of this while dealing with difficult people, but I did it.

When I arrived Monday I was a little upset because my United flight was late. (I'm sticking with Southwest from now on.) I got checked into my hotel, grabbed something to eat with a team mate and squeezed in some work out time before heading to bed to be rested and prepared for Tuesday.

Despite feeling like I lacked proper preparation time in San Jose because of my late arrival the day before, I started the day off winning the first two bouts rather easily. I then had to face Liz Enochs who had been the NAC champ and point leader this year. I beat her 5-2 and went on to win the pool 6-0!

By the DE Mary Wilkerson was ranked 1st and I was ranked 2nd. Liz was ranked 4th. Thanks to my sweep of my pool I had a first round DE bye. Then I faced Cat Randall and Anne Galliano beating them by 10-6 and 10-5 scores. In the semis I faced Katherine Bowden-Scherer and Mary faced Liz. Both Mary and I were knocked out and had to fence for 3rd. Liz went on to become the 2008 Women's Veteran's 40 Champion and I beat Mary for the bronze medal. In the process, I earned a new rating: C08.

What that means is that I not only jumped up two spots ranking wise thanks to my performance in this tournament, I will fence in Division 1 in Decemeber and in January 2009 at home here in Louisville.

I wish to thank everyone in LFC for all the support I have received over the years. It was you guys who helped make this possible! I would especially like to thank the following people for going the extra mile: Maestro, Michael Gauss, Lou Felty, Will Garner and Kate(who was one of the few people who stayed late to practice with me from the saber class), Michelle Reese and Orion Bazzell.

I guess I am the family championship athlete now!