Banner Season: Toronto Varsity Blues reclaim conference crown, capture 2025 women’s win
Kingston Ont. (via the Queen’s Gaels) - The Toronto Varsity Blues secured the 2025 OUA Women’s Fencing Championship with four gold medals, claiming the Kay Aoyama Trophy at the Queen’s Athletics and Recreation Centre on Sunday, February 9, 2025.
The victory marks the Varsity Blues' 16th championship in program history. They finished with a total of 346 points, leading the Western Mustangs (307) and Queen’s Gaels (143).
Tatiana Gayowsky of the Queen’s Gaels was honoured with the Dave O’Donnell Trophy. This award is presented to a women’s fencer who is most proficient in skill, style and sportsmanship.
Jay Logan of the Ottawa Gee-Gees was named OUA Women’s Fencing Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Day one featured intense individual competition across all three weapons. In the women’s foil final, Elizabeth Upton of the Western Mustangs triumphed over Erica Dominguez of Toronto Metropolitan, winning 15-8. Western’s Robin Wang secured bronze, defeating Catherine Wu 15-9.
In the individual epee event, Lilla Mucsi of Toronto, secured the Varsity-Blues first gold medal of the event over York’s Liza Yermolenko by a score of 15-13. The third-place match featured Western’s Stephanie Shen defeating Ava Zheng 15-14 for bronze.
To wrap up the day one of the individual events, Jasnoor Kalsi of Western overcame Tatiana Gayowsky of Queen’s 15-13 to win gold in women’s sabre. Toronto’s Janna Elshakankiri claimed bronze by defeating Noura Camara 15-6.
On day two, the Western Mustangs captured gold in the women’s foil team relay, with Amber Briar, Lydia Tzianas, Elizabeth Upton, and Robin Wang defeating the McMaster Marauders 43-39.
Toronto’s team of TianTian Dong, Catherine Wu, Zoey Xie and Lea Zizzari secured the bronze medal match 45-20 against Queen’s.
The Toronto team of Anna Mucsi, Lilla Mucsi, Nicole Su, and Manrong Sun outlasted Western’s team by a score of 45-36, claiming gold in the epee team relay.
The Carleton Ravens secured their first medal of the event, overcoming the Trent Excalibur 45-29 in the bronze match with the team of Mayeen Ayoub, Hope Johnson and Ava Zheng.
The Varsity Blues claimed their second team gold of the day in the sabre team relay. The team of Janna Elshakankiri, Salma Elshakankiri, Maria Haji-Mahmoodzadeh and Lam Ng Wing took down Queen’s by a tight score of 45-44.
Ottawa’s team of Noura Camara, Khloe Lessard-Kulchyski and Maryam Moussa edged out Western 45-35 for bronze.
Major Award Winners
Dave O’Donnell Trophy –Tatiana Gayowsky, Queen’s
Coach of the Year – Jay Logan, Ottawa
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (DAY 1) - All individual medalists are OUA all-stars
Foil Individual
Gold (Maitre Ken Wood Trophy): Elizabeth Upton, Western
Silver: Erika Dominguez, TMU
Bronze: Robin Wang, Western
Epee Individual
Gold (Al English Trophy): Lilla Mucsi, Toronto
Silver: Liza Yermolenko, York
Bronze: Stephanie Shen, Western
Sabre Individual
Gold (Fred Wach Trophy): Jasnoor Kalsi, Western
Silver: Tatiana Gayowsky, Queen’s
Bronze: Janna Elshakankiri, Toronto
TEAM RELAY RESULTS (DAY 2)
Foil Team Relay
Gold: Western (Briar, Tzianas, Upton, Wang)
Silver: McMaster (Boone, Bryan, Ting, Zhang)
Bronze: Toronto (Dong, Wu, Xie, Zizzari)
Epee Team Relay
Gold: Toronto (A. Mucsi, L. Mucsi, Su, Sun)
Silver: Western (Mei, Shazadeh, Shen, Wu)
Bronze: Carleton (Ayoub, Johnson, Zheng)
Sabre Team Relay
Gold: Toronto (J. Elshakankiri, S. Elshakankiri, Haji-Mahmoodzadeh, Ng Wing)
Silver: Queen’s (Gardner, Gayowsky, Peng, Zuber )
Bronze: Ottawa (Camara, Lessard-Kulchyski, Moussa)
STANDINGS (OVERALL)
Toronto 346
Western 307
Queen’s 143
McMaster 137
Ottawa 127
Carleton 111
Waterloo 78
RMC 76
York 66
TMU 48
Trent 47
Brock 6
Guelph 5