With hopes of qualifying as many fencers for the OUA championships as possible, the University of Toronto men’s and women’s fencing team travelled to McMaster University to compete in the West qualifiers on January 30-31 in Hamilton, Ont.
As is standard for OUA competitions, both individual athletes and teams complete a qualifying tournament (one held for universities in the West division and one in the East) before moving on to finals. Typically, the top eight athletes in the individual events and the top three teams in each event move forward to compete on championship weekend.
Men were the first to compete on Saturday, beginning with individual events. All four of the men’s foil competitors will be continuing on to conference finals as veterans Kyle Chan (Hong Kong), Kamil Karbonowski (Milton, Ont.) and David Schacter (Montreal, Que.) swept the top three rankings as will first-year fencer Jason Qianam (London, Ont.).
In men’s épee, athletes Felix Pang (Markham, Ont.) and Iliya Sigal (Toronto) placed fifth and sixth respectively - also qualified to represent U of T at the OUA championships.
Finally in the men’s sabre event, Gordon Geringas (Toronto) and Akash Toprani (Vancouver, B.C.) took the first two spots, while Curtis Wang (Toronto) finished in seventh place, with all three fencers moving on to the final weekend.
The men’s foil, sabre and épee teams each ranked within the top-3 and also continue onto championship weekend.
Sunday, the final day of Western qualifiers, was reserved for the women’s events.
Jodi Marr (Wainfleet, Ont.) and Nicole See-Too (Edmonton, Alta.) finished second and third in the women’s foil, while the team placed first. In women’s épee, Joanne Ko (TorontO) and Amber Wavryk (Scarborough, Ont.) ranked first and second, while Julia Barette (Montreal, Que.) was fifth as their team finished second.
Women’s sabre dominated once again. Alison Doyle (Troy, N.Y.) and Kristina Han (Burlington, Ont.) took the top two spots, while Stefania Spano (Thornhill, Ont.) fought her way to fourth place and Jo Jo Leung (Winterton, Nfld.) finished seventh. All four women will go on to compete in Ottawa as will their team, which is ranked first.
Note: Retired U of T head coach Maitre Ken Wood was honoured with a grande salute that was performed by all of the fencers, Varsity athletes and coaches alike. Ken has dedicated himself as a fencing coach at the University of Toronto and the Ontario fencing community for more than 45 years. The salute, choreographed originally in the court of King Louis XV of France, was performed in honour of everything Maitre Wood has done for the sport and the athletes.
Varsity Blues fencers will be travelling to Ottawa, February 12-14, where they will compete in the 2009-10 OUA fencing championships, hosted by Carleton University and the Ravens fencing club.
Final Results
Men’s foil – team, 1st
Kyle Chan, 1st
Kamil Karbonowski, 2nd
David Schacter, 3rd
Jason Qian, 8th
Men’s epee – team, 3rd
Felix Pang, 5th
Iliya Sigal, 6th
Justin shum, 10th
Jake Wang, 13th
Men’s Sabre – team, 2nd
Gordon Geringas, 1st
Akash Toprani, 2nd
Curtis Wang, 7th
Bram Locknick, 13th
Women’s Foil – team, 1st
Jodi Marr, 2nd
Nicole See-Too, 3rd
Jessica Taylor, 16th
Women’s Epee – team, 2nd
Joanne Ko, 1st
Amber Wavryk, 2nd
Julia Barette, 5th
Women’s Sabre – team, 1st
Alison Doyle, 1st
Kristina Han, 2nd
Stefania Spano, 4th
Jo Jo Leung, 7th
