Sullivan N Ireland Fencing Champion
The 2015/16 junior fencing season came to a close with the last round of the Northern Ireland Junior Foil Series, held on Sat 7th May. The NIJFS is a series of 6 tournaments held by school and independent fencing clubs across N Ireland (including Sullivan), from November through to May, to find the country’s best junior fencers in U10, U12, U14 and U16 age groups.
This year Sullivan Upper year 12 Rachel Smyth took the U16 Girls’ Championship, narrowly beating her fellow SU fencer Ella Reid into second place. The two Sullivan girls vied for the series points lead all year, ending with Rachel beating Ella in the final of the last round to take the overall championship win by a single point!
Rachel Smyth, N Ireland U16 Foil Champion
Ella Reid, N Ireland U16 Foil 2nd
In the U14 Girls category, Sullivan fencers were prominent in the results throughout the year, with Erin Maginn, Phoebe McPherson and Anna Vaughan (last year’s U12 champion) all winning gold, silver or bronze medals across the six rounds. Erin had a hesitant start to the year in round 1 with a 3rd place, but quickly improved to finish the series with three consecutive wins in rounds 4 to 6. This took her to 2nd place overall, just 3 points away from the championship win. Phoebe and Anna finished the year 4th and 5th respectively in the final rankings, while year 8 Willow Wolsey, in her first year in competition finished a creditable 9th.
Erin Maginn, N Ireland U14 Foil 2nd
Meanwhile in the U12 Girls category, year 8 Tara Millar put in consistant performances throughout the year, winning 2 silvers and 2 bronzes from the six rounds. This took her to 2nd place overall in the rankings in her first year in fencing. Another SU year 8, Chloe Stevenson, also in her first year in fencing, finished 5th overall, winning a silver and a bronze on the way.
Tara Millar, N Ireland U12 Foil 2nd
David White SUFC Coach
31 May 2016