Montréal, February 26, 2014 – Canadian fencers came away with three Pan-American titles in the junior individual events at the Junior and Cadet Pan-American Championships, taking place in Guatemala. Foil fencer Alanna Goldie, épéeist Leonora Mackinnon and sabreur Farès Arfa all climbed to the highest step of the podium.

Tuesday, Alanna Goldie put together a perfect record in the foil fencing discipline en route to a gold medal. The Albertan easily defeated the Mexican Aidee Hernandez 15-3 in the final. In the same discipline, Ontarian Eleanor Harvey was eliminated in the quarterfinals and went on to finish 5^th while Alberta native Jerrica Gu, 10th, and the Quebecoise Ariane Bilodeau, 15^th, both fell in the round of 16.

In the final of men’s sabre, the Quebecois Farès Arfa took down the Venezuelan Jesus Carvajal to climb to the top step of the podium. In the semifinals, the 19-year-old athlete beat his teammate Pascal Lambert, who went on to claim the bronze medal.  Also competing in sabre was the Quebecois Mathieu Nassif and British Columbian Cameron Mackay, who finished 17^th and 20^th, respectively.

Also on Tuesday, the Quebecer Marc-Antoine Blais-Bélanger took home a bronze medal in épée. His teammates Alexandre Lyssov and Kerr Hutchison, both from Ontario, as well as Dylan French, hailing from British Columbia, all were eliminated in the round of 16.

Monday’s action saw Ontarian Leonora Mackinnon walk away with gold in women’s épée after taking down the Venezuelan Patrizia Piovesan Silva in the grand finale by a score of 15-10. As for Quebecers Andrée-Anne Paquet and Vanessa Lacas-Warrick, both would fall in the round of eight, finishing their respective competitions in 6^th and 7^th position, while Ontarian Hannah Beach was eliminated a round earlier, finishing with a 19^th place classification.

In men’s foil fencing, Ontarian Alastair Keyes and the Quebecers Eamonn Gomez-Perales and François-Olivier David were all stopped in the quarterfinals. Also in action, Quebecer Nicolas Graziano was eliminated in the preceding round.

Women’s sabreurs Véronique Lamarre, of Québec, and Madison Thurgood, of Alberta, both came away with top-8 finishes. As for Ontarian Tatiana Gayowsky, she was stopped in the round of 32.

The team competitions will be presented on Wednesday and Thursday at the Junior and Cadet Pan-American Championships.

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