Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger (Montreal, QC) won gold in men’s epee at the NCAA Fencing Championships this past weekend staged at Pennsylvania State University. Blais-Belanger representing Ohio State University, defeated Sean White from St. John’s in the final a close 10-9 to take the top spot. Blais-Belanger advanced to the final after defeating Ariel Simmons from Notre Dame 15-14 in the semi-final.

In his last year at Ohio State, Blais-Belanger had this to say about his win:

“I can’t believe this just happened! After 4 years of hard work and sacrifices, I am finally able to bring a championship home to the Ohio State University! Thanks to everyone that cheered me on, coached me and lost their voices for me today. I couldn’t have done it without all of you.”

Another Canadian also brought home a medal. Cindy Gao (Toronto, ON) who is in her first year at Harvard University won a bronze medal in Women’s Epee. Fellow Canadian, Emma Von Dadelszen (Vancouver, BC) from Ohio State finished just off the podium in 6^th place in the same event. Sarah Filby (Canadian living in the US) fencing for Northwestern University, finished in 10^th place in Women’s Foil.

In other news, several Canadians travelled to Budapest to take part in the Westend Grand Prix Women’s Epee event which featured over 233 fencers. Rio Olympian Leonora MacKinnon (Canadian living in the UK) advanced to the main draw where she finished in 47^th.

Kelleigh Ryan (Ottawa, ON) and Julien Gaudreau-Pollender (Granby, QC) took part in the Senior Women’s and Men’s Foil Satellite event in Zacatecas City, Mexico. Ryan finished with a bronze medal, after narrowly losing her semi-final bout 8-7. Gaudreau-Pollender finished in 6^th place after losing his quarter-final bout to the eventual gold medalist of the event, Martino Minuto from Turkey.

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