Although sophomore Gina Annunziato couldn’t reclaim her status as a first place finisher after losing an intense bout in the Illinois Junior Olympic Qualifier on Saturday at Patten Gym, she’s still looking forward to her last opportunity to compete in the Junior Olympics (JO), which she missed last year due to illness.

“I’m glad I qualified, but I wish I could have beat (my opponent),” Annunziato said.

Annunziato placed second in the Women’s U-20 sabre competition – one of three weapons divisions – which she won last year. Sabre fencers usually strive to swipe or slash rather than poke their opponents.

“(My goals are) placing in the top 32 and having fun because it’s my last one, and just doing the best that I can,” Annunziato said.

Sophomore Gabby Aiuto took fourth in the Women’s U-20 epee competition and also qualified for JO, which will be held Feb. 17-20 in Hartford, Conn. Aiuto qualified for JO during her senior year of high school but didn’t make it last year.

Aiuto fences with an epee, which differs from the other two weapons because the athletes can score points by touching any part of their opponent’s body with the tip of the blade. This event doesn’t have right-of-way rules, which require fencers to block an attack against them before launching their own.

“For the most part our results were good,” assistant coach Ed Kaihatsu said. “It shows us some things to work on in a competition setting.”

This is the last year Aiuto and Anunziato are eligible for JO because of age limitations.

Freshman Adrienne Shon placed fourth in the Women’s U-20 sabre competition but didn’t qualify for JO. Kaihatsu attributes Shon’s failure to qualify partly to bad luck – Shon ended up with a tough matchup in the championship bracket. Shon will have one last chance to qualify if she places in the top 32 this weekend at the USFA North America Cup in Houston.

“Her chances of qualifying are still good, even though it’s a more difficult way to go,” Kaihatsu said.

Many of the state’s top fencers were absent from the competition because they had already qualified for JO and didn’t need to compete. Northwestern freshmen Kellie Fry, Sam Nemecek and Megan Ross didn’t compete on Saturday because they had already qualified for JO.

“It’s pretty good showing,” Kaihatsu said. “We’ll have a good presence at JO.”

Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].