Mustangs sabre fencer Emiley Watson (right) fends off an attack. In the sabre event, competitors score points by slashing the upper half of the body with any part of the blade.
The Western Mustangs had a successful weekend at the Ontario University Athletics women’s fencing championships in Kingston, Ont., earning two individual golds and seven medals in total en route to an overall second place finish.
The Mustangs performed well in the solo events, with Evelyn Zhang and Yiling Yang completing an impressive 1–2 finish in the solo epee event, and Lilly Liu taking first prize in the solo sabre category. Also of note from the individual program was Western University’s Serena Fang, who finished second in the foil program to Ryerson University’s Erika Dominguez.
Western’s strong performances meant the University of Toronto Varsity Blues were left without a gold medal in the individual competitions, but where the defending champions really shined was in the relay portion. Toronto’s trios swept all three of the foil, epee and sabre events, and this dominance made up the bulk of U of T’s 397 overall points on the weekend.
It was the Varsity Blues’ fourth consecutive championship banner in women’s fencing, and their fifth first place finish in the last 10 competitions.
While they finished second in the overall competition, the Mustangs were still successful in their own right, securing silver in all three team relay competitions. They were the only team to have a point total in the same realm as the Varsity Blues, finishing 59 points behind the eventual champions.
Western came away with seven total medals this weekend, including the golds from Zhang and Liu. Western’s head coach Carol Christie was also recognized for her efforts throughout the year, as she was named the 2022 OUA Coach of the Year.
The Mustangs team silver medal is their fourth in a row since 2017.
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