By David Wharton P’19

In a performance that was nothing short of convincing, Chaminade swept the men’s and women’s overall titles at the 2019 California high school fencing championships.

The Eagles outpaced 62 other schools from across the state by taking four of six events, with the women finishing first in epee and the men winning foil, epee, and saber.

Though senior Emmanuelle Cola earned an individual bronze in women’s epee, Chaminade’s success is owed primarily to depth with a handful of fencers – including Ian Ngo ’19, Lance Fortner ’20, and Adam Catlin ’21 – earning Top 10 finishes during a full day of competition in their home gym. Other team members contributing points were Zachary Wharton ’19, John Conroy ’19, Sean-Paul Marx ’20, Marc Ghotanian ’22, Jaemin Choi ’22, Emily Brown ’19, Charlotte Weller ’19 and Mary Alexa Cantalejo ’21.

The accumulation of solid performances pushed Coach Derek Snyder’s squad well past rivals Harvard-Westlake and Brentwood. For the men, this marks the second-consecutive overall championship. The women improved after finishing just behind Harvard-Westlake last year.

Chaminade has won more state titles in fencing than in any other sport. The program was originally guided to prominence by Fr. Larry Calhoun, a renowned name in the sport, and over its many years has produced numerous standouts who later competed at the college and international level.