Lisa Posthumus won her first gold medal in junior national competition last weekend by winning the junior national championship in women's epee at the Junior Olympics held in Chicago.

She also qualified for the junior world team, which will travel to Vienna, Austria, for the junior world championships.

"Once I got to direct eliminations, I was really determined to win," she said. "When I realized I didn't have to fence the Haugh sisters (two of the top women epee fencers in the world) I knew I was going to win."

Posthumus fences foil for the Lady Lions but adapted her skills to the epee weapon. She said she was confident of her foil but was worried about epee. She described her win in a new weapon as "the best thing in the world."

"We know she is strong, but what she showed us was excellent," assistant coach Wes Glon said. "She really did do a good job, she eliminated the field. She was fencing so well that everyone knew she was going to win it."

Posthumus only recently took up epee, a traditionally male dominated weapon. She won the epee event Saturday and came back Sunday to fence in the foil competition.

"I was so excited I couldn't talk," she said. "I was still apprehensive about fencing foil, but all I could think about was that I won."

Posthumus was preoccupied with her win and was eliminated in the top 12 by teammate Katie Kowalski. Kowalski was eliminated shortly thereafter, preventing her from qualifying for the junior team.

"I'm not very happy with the results," Kowalski said. She said she is really looking forward to this week without practices and hopes to get a lot of rest.

Stephen Flores, fencing foil, worked his way through the eliminations and finished third overall. His high finish, however, did not earn him enough points to qualify for the world team.

"He just fell short to make the world team, but a bronze medal proves that he is a top junior in the country," Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "It also helps to build his confidence for the remainder of the season."

Other results from the weekend built the confidence of the whole team as it looks forward to the NCAA championships. Freshmen Ralph Amirata and Jonathan Pollack both finished in the top 16 in sabre.

"It is promising if you have freshmen in the top of the country," Glon said. "It really helps the university team."

Most of the freshmen who went to the Junior Olympics were not top recruits, so Glon was pleased with their development over the last year.

"We seem to be going in the right direction," he said.

Notes: The women fencers will remain on campus over spring break to prepare for the NCAA regional qualifications March 3-4. The competition will be held in White Building.