The U of T fencing team poked, lunged and parried their way to five medals at their annual invitations tournament, held last weekend. Events were held in men’s and women’s Foil, Sabre and Epee categories, with the tournament also serving as a good indication of what can be expected of the OUA finals to be held in February at McMaster.

“Most of the OUA teams are represented here,” said Epee team captain Allan Fein. “So this invitational is always a reasonable indication of what is to be expected at the OUs.”

The men’s foil team, consisting of Michael Hassett, Jed Blackburn, Nick Rudzick and Alan Reed, took the gold medal in the foil event and the women’s team of Julia Boma-Fisher, Grace Park, Lillian Yu and Stephanie Halldorson came from behind at the end of the round to win the bronze on Saturday.

The remaining teams competed Sunday in a packed Sports Gym. In the epee category, the men’s team of Fein, Matthew Peros, Ozge Uncu and Keith Cheung managed to win the bronze and the woman’s team of Alison MacLachlan, Christina Zia and Lisette Musaib-Ali claimed the silver.

The Blues had two teams entered in the men’s sabre event, and both teams came away with medals. The “A” team of Adrian Ho, Kris Hutton, Andrew Suess and Patrick Reed won the bronze, and the “Alumni Team” of Paul Field, Andy Mason and Gary Choy parried their way to a second place finish.

The U of T team finished second overall last year at the OUAs and this season has been looking good so far.

“The men’s team is quite strong,” said maitre and head coach Ken Wood.

“We’ve got a good chance to do something this year in the finals. The ladies’ team is not quite as strong, because of experience. Most of the ladies have only been fencing a few years. I would be looking for bronze medals all the way through with the women”

The playoff process will begin in January of 2002 for the U of T fencing teams. The OUAs are not far off now, and this invitational certainly showed that these fencers have the potential to win it all.

Fencing Facts:

Fencing is actually divided into three sword categories: Foil, Sabre and Epee. The Foil is the lightest of the swords, and hits can be scored only on the torso, the Sabre is heavier than the Foil and hits can be made anywhere above the waist, and finally the epee is the heaviest and thickest of the swords with hits being made anywhere on the body.