The swords were out in Norm Fenn gym Jan. 9-10, as Carleton hosted its annual invitational fencing tournament.

Friends, family and fans cheered on the Raven varsity fencing team, which competed in the men’s and women’s sabre, foil and epee events.

Head coach Eli Sukunda said he was quite proud of the team’s success.

Kelleigh Ryan, Jennifer Dunev and Brittany Vongdara came first in the women’s team foil competition.              

The men’s sabre team, consisting of Ben Riley, Jonathan Girard, Mike Ivankovic and Devan Marr, also placed first.

The women’s sabre and the women’s epée teams placed third, while the men’s foil placed sixth and men’s epée placed fifth.

Captain Katrina Ross said even though her women’s sabre team lost some games this past weekend, she remains positive about the upcoming Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships. 

“We’ve had a couple of injuries and the fact that we lost to U of T [in the semi-finals] this weekend is not the most devastating loss that we could have,” Ross said. “You have to keep these injuries in mind.”

Both Adrienne Sukunda, an environmental studies major, and Ross, a history major played despite injuries this weekend.

Ross said she has a good feeling about the upcoming OUAs.
“It really boils down to three strongest teams and who is the best that very day,” said Eli Sukunda.

The three teams to beat are Toronto, Queen’s University and Carleton themselves.

Eli Sukunda said he thinks if the OUAs were played three times on three different days, there might be three different champions.

One challenge to face at OUAs will be Toronto’s great pool of talent.

“They even have a player from Hong Kong. And although they have had nothing to do with his creation he’s part of their team and beats everyone – in fact he did it this weekend,” Eli Sukunda said.

The Ravens have a strong team this year with lots of experience. Emily Robinson, a first-year public affairs and policy management student, is the only rookie on board.

The Ravens are well aware of what they need to work on in the next month in order to win gold at the OUA championships.

Eli Sukunda said the team has a strong strategy and is in top physical shape, but the Ravens will continue to work on the nuances of the game.

“All of the pieces are there, but timing is so important in fencing,” he said.

Every move throughout the bout must be strategically placed.

“There are a lot of really good fencers at the OUAs who compete in the national level,” Ross said. “It’ll depend on who’s having a good game.”

Eli Sukunda knows it is for this reason that the Ravens must remain strong psychologically for the next month in order to come out on top.

The team seems to agree that the OUAs could be anyone’s championship.