2023 USAPM National Championships and Rocky Mountain State Games Wrap-Up

The 2023 USAPM National Championships and Rocky Mountain State Games came to a thrilling conclusion this weekend, featuring top athletes from the United States and three talented athletes from Chile. The stakes were high, as they not only competed for the US Championships but also sought crucial qualification points for the PanAm Games, Junior World Championships, and Youth World Championships Teams.The weekend kicked off with the Youth and Juniors trying their hand at the

exciting new Ninja discipline at Altitude Ninja. The course, comprising eight challenging, fast-paced, and fun obstacles, brought a great first introduction to this new and exciting discipline. This unique opportunity allowed participants to experience a taste of what they can expect at the Junior and Youth World Championships this year. Additionally, it provided Ninja athletes with their first foray into pentathlon—a fantastic blend of exciting firsts.Moving on to the fencing events, the Seniors, Masters, Juniors, and U19/17 categories took center stage at the Olympic Training Center.
With a one-touch round-robin and bonus round format, the battles among the top five competitors were intense. Naomi Ross and Erik Witter emerged as leaders at the end of the day, setting the stage for an exciting Day 2 of the National Championships.The Senior Riding event featured the top 10 women and men from the previous day's fencing ranking round. The course proved challenging for some of our highly-ranked athletes, resulting in several penalties and time faults that shuffled the overall rankings heading into the swim and laser-run events.

Photo by: USAPM

Despite starting behind the leaders, Jessica Davis and Brendan Anderson, both ranked number one in the Senior Division prior to the event, displayed their experience and strength in the combined LaserRun event. Their remarkable performances secured them a well-deserved spot on the podium as National Champions, earning crucial PanAm ranking points along the way.Notable mentions go to Tristen Bell and Heidi Hendrick, who showcased consistent results across each discipline over the two days, culminating in a Silver Medal finish with Madison Gonzalez and Erik Witter bringing home the Bronze.Congratulations to all the competitors for their outstanding performances! For detailed results, visit pentascore.org.