OUA women's fencing championship day one results

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Day one results from the OUA women's fencing championship:

Women's Epee Individual
 
Gold - Joanna Kolbe (RYERSON) 
Silver - Gillian Turnbull (CARLETON) 
Bronze - Melannie McCann (CARLETON)
 
Women's Foil Individual
 
GOLD - Jennifer Akerman (McMASTER) 
SiLVER - Vivian Poon (WESTERN) 
BRONZE - Daniela Moyano (RMC)
 
Women's Sabre Individual
 
GOLD - Adrienne Sukanda (CARLETON) 
SILVER - Kayla Lambie (YORK) 
BRONZE - Kristina Han (TORONTO) 

Competition continues tomorrow with the team competitions, followed by the medal and banner presentations.

The Carleton Ravens will be looking to defend their title and earn their third banner in four years at the 2012-13 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) women’s fencing championship. The Ravens, and the other OUA women’s fencing teams will descend upon Brock University in search of glory, with individual events taking place Friday, Feb. 9 and the team events the following day.

The Ravens enter the championships with a balance of youth and experience. The squad boasts a pair of former individual champions in Gillian Turnbull (Winnipeg) who took gold in épée in 2010 and Adrienne Sukunda (Ottawa) who won sabre gold the same year.  The squad will also look to Isabelle Gautheir (Ottawa), who enters her second year of OUA competition after taking bronze in the épée last year. In the recent Carleton Invitational, the Ravens women posted a first place finish in the épée, second in foil and fifth in sabre.

The top of the podium is a place where the Toronto Varsity Blues are comfortable, having taken overall gold in three of the last five years.  However this year’s squad may be short on experience.  Leading the way will be two-time OUA all-star Kristina Han (Burlington, Ont.), who took silver in the individual sabre in 2012, and was part of the group that won gold in the team sabre event.

Royal Military College brings a strong team to the championship year in and year out. At the 2011-12 championships, the Paladins took team medals in two of the three weapons, silver in sabre and bronze in épée. Though they aren’t returning any former all-stars or gold medalists, the Paladins will have an experienced squad, which includes four year veterans Erica Young (Cambridge, Ont.), Diane Malo (Greenwood, N.S.) and Laura Smith, who lead the group to a bronze in the épée at the Carleton Invitational in mid-January.

The Ryerson Rams were strong in épée last year, earning both individual and team gold in the discipline, and they will look to continue that dominance. Back in the fold is 2012 épée individual gold medalist Joanna Kolbe (Mississauga, Ont.) who already has a gold medal from the Brock Invitational under her belt this season. The Rams will also look to Danielle Stepanian (Richmond Hill, Ont.) to be a force in the sabre competition. Stepanian has two gold medals in sabre to her credit from Ontario Challenge Circuit events in Newmarket and York.

Rounding out the competition at the 2012-13 OUA Women’s Fencing Championship include squads from the host Brock Badgers, Guelph, McMaster, Queen’s, Trent, Western and York.

Be sure to check oua.ca throughout the weekend for recaps and results from the OUA Women’s Fencing Championship.