St. John's University Athletics
Fencing: Olympic Qualification Update
2/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
Feb. 13, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. - Olympic-hopefuls Daryl Homer and Dagmara Wozniak opened the international season with top-20 finishes in Europe earlier this month. With the finishes, the duo gained points towards qualification for the 2012 Olympics in London.
Homer, a senior who is redshirting the 2011-12 season to train for this summer's upcoming Olympics, placed 14th in men's saber at the Plovdiv Grand Prix in Bulgaria on Sunday, Feb. 5. He had the highest finish amongst his American teammates.
With his 14th place finish in Plovdiv and his gold medal performance at the December NAC, Homer is expected to move into the top spot in National Team Points Rankings and the Adjusted Olympic Rankings (AOR).
Wozniak, a four-time All-American in her time at St. John's, placed 20th in women's saber at the Orleans Grand Prix in France on Saturday, Feb. 11. She had the second-highest American finish and is now ranked No. 13 in the AOR and is the top-ranked athlete in the American Zone.
Wozniak's teammate, Mariel Zagunis, won gold in Orleans to retain the No. 1 world ranking and move into No. 1 spot in the AOR.
In order to qualify for the U.S. women's saber team at the 2012 Olympics in London, Wozniak must finish in the top-12 in the world on the AOR or be one of the two highest ranked athletes from North or South American outside the top 12 on the AOR by March 31, 2012.
Because women's saber is not a team at the London Olympic Games, each nation can qualify a maximum of two women's saber athletes. During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Wozniak served as replacement athlete for the three-member U.S. women's saber squad. Among those Wozniak is competing with for a spot are her U.S. teammates - Mariel Zagunis, Ibtihaj Muhammad, and Daria Schneider.
Wozniak's next competition will be the London World Cup on Feb. 24.
To stay current on the Red Storm fencing program, visit RedStormSports.com and follow the team on Twitter: (@STJ_Fencing), using the hashtag, #stjfencing.
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