PLOVDIV, Bulgaria — Zander Rhodes earned an individual and team gold medal to cap a number of strong performances for five current and one incoming members of the Columbia fencing team at the Junior and Cadet World Championships. The Lions had representatives from the United States, Canada and Spain at the nine-day event, held from April 1-9.
Rhodes edged out recently crowned NCAA Foil Champion Lauren Scruggs of Harvard in the final round to pick up the top spot. Later in the week, Rhodes picked up another first-place finish in the team competition. Rhodes doubled her medal count at the Junior World Championships after previously taking silver with Junior Foil Team in 2021 and gold with the squad in 2022.
Tierna Oxenreider teamed with three other Ivy League fencers to capture silver in the team event, which was The United States' record-tying 15th medal at the tournament. Individually, the first-year placed 41st out of 174 competitors.
Additionally, incoming first-year Samarth Kumbla was a member of the gold medal winning men's foil team for the U.S. and reached the podium with a bronze medal in the individual event.
Also in foil,
Sofia Gaydos placed 22nd individually and helped Spain earn 12th place as a team, which was in the top-half of the 34 countries participating.
Tamar Gordon guided Canada to seventh place in team sabre and was 60th individually.
Bogdan Hamilton also represented Canada, which finished 21st in the 42 teams in the team foil field.
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COLUMBIA'S JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Women's Epee
Tierna Oxenreider (USA) – First Place (team), 41
st Place (individual)
Women's Foil
Zander Rhodes (US) – First Place (team), First Place (individual)
Sofia Gaydos (Spain) – 12
th Place (team), 22
nd Place (individual)
Women's Sabre
Tamar Gordon (Canada) – Seventh Place (team), 60
th Place (individual)
Men's Foil
Samarth Kumbla (USA) – First Place (team), Third Place (individual)
Bogdan Hamilton (Canada) – 12
th Place (team), 72
nd Place (individual)
