The North Carolina fencing team took two athletes to Richmond, Va. to compete in the Junior Olympic Championships this weekend.
Freshman Gabe Foster and sophomore Amanda Lalezarian accompanied coach Ron Miller to the tournament.
Foster was unable to make it out of the first round of competition in men’s foil, while Lalezarian went 5-1 in her first round pool in the junior women’s foil en route to finishing 36th out of nearly 200 participants.
Miller said that the team had more than 20 athletes who could have qualified, but due to academic conflicts along with the length of the season and other factors, Foster and Lalezarian were the only two able to make the trip.
“This competition gives those who didn’t go a chance to rest, and it gives those who did go a chance to chance to fence against competition at the highest national level,” Miller said. “It’s healthy for us both ways.”
Lalezarian said that though she didn’t perform as well as she had hoped, she still believed the Junior Olympic Championships to be a fruitful learning experience.
“It’s important to stay strong in tough moments and remain confident in yourself whether you’re up or down,” she said. “I still have Division I tournaments to look forward to, so more than anything else (this weekend) was just another learning experience.”
The Tar Heels will compete in the ACC Championships this weekend in Chapel Hill, the first ACC fencing tournament since 1980.
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
