(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – A pair of 18-year-olds each stood on the podium at a Junior World Cup for the first time on Sunday as Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) and Isabella Barna (Bend, Ore.) won gold and bronze, respectively, at the Dijon Junior Epee World Cup in France.
Seeded 25th after a 4-2 result in the pools, Holmes had a bye into the table of 64 where she won the first of two back-to-back bouts against U.S. teammates.
In the table of 64, Holmes defeated her 2011 Junior World Teammate Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas), 15-8.
In a rematch of their gold medal final at the November North American Cup, Holmes defeated Jessica O’Neill-Lyublinsky (North Salem, N.Y.), 15-10, before going on to earn a 15-12 win over Stephanie Suhrbier (GER) in the table of 16.
Holmes was one of three U.S. athletes to qualify for the quarter-finals as Ashley Severson (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) and Barna each aimed for first-time Junior World Cup medals.
Barna defeated Olga Ehler (GER), 15-4, to advance to the semifinals against Holmes who won her bout in the quarters against Severson, 15-9.
Holmes won her semifinal against Barna, 15-7, and defeated Federica Santandrea (ITA), 15-10, to win gold.
The win comes on the heels of Holmes’ top-five finish at the Laupheim Junior World Cup in Germany last month and moves the 2009 Cadet World silver medalist into a #6 ranking in the Junior World Cup point standings for women’s epee.
Click here for complete results.
Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:
1. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
2. Federica Santandrea (ITA)
3. Auriane Mallo (FRA)
3. Isabella Barna (Bend, Ore.)
5. Ashley Severson (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
6. Olga Ehler (GER)
7. Daria Strelnikov (ISR)
8. Giulia Guerra (ITA)
18. Aleina Edwards (Los Angeles, Calif.)
19. Nina Van Loon (Boulder, Colo.)
30. Jessica O’Neill-Lyublinsky (North Salem, N.Y.)
44. Audrey Abend (New York City, N.Y.)
48. Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas)
64. Sarah Waller (McKinney, Texas)
68. Isis Washington (Parsippany, N.J.)
90. Channing Foster (Washington, D.C.)
110. Maria Alejandra Trumble (Cambridge, Mass.)
Tag(s): News Kat Holmes
