St. John's University Athletics
RIO 2016: Homer and Wozniak Named to U.S. Olympic Fencing Team
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's alums Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y.) and Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.) were two of the 17 members named to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Fencing Team during the Celebration of Champions ceremony at the conclusion of USA Fencing National Championships Monday night in Richmond, Va.
The event marked the culmination of a year-long qualification process for Team USA that saw its 17 members travel to 10 international and five domestic events across four continents since April of 2015.
Homer managed to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro due to his impressive results during the Olympic qualifying period, including silver medals at both the Senior World Championships and Pan American Championships last year. Wozniak secured her spot on the team due to her results on the World Cup circuit during the past year.
Homer will be making his second Olympic appearance as he was a member of Team USA's saber squad at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Homer placed sixth in men's individual saber in London to record the highest American finish in the event since Peter Westbrook claimed the bronze medal in 1984 (Los Angeles). The Bronx, N.Y., native also competed in the men's saber team event and helped the U.S. to an eighth-place finish.
Wozniak will join Homer in Rio de Janeiro as she will also be making her second U.S. Olympic team. The Avenel, N.J., native will look to improve upon her eighth place finish at the London Games. Wozniak will also compete in the women's saber team event.
Since the addition of women's saber to the Olympic program in 2004, the team event has only been held once at the Games with the United States claiming bronze in 2008. Team USA is among the favorites to medal again after winning gold at the World Team Championships in 2014.
In addition to individual events, the U.S. Fencing Team will compete in three of the four team events on the Rio program: men's foil, women's saber and women's epee. For the first time ever, Team USA will enter the Games as past Olympic or World medalists in each of these events.
2016 U.S. Olympic Fencing Team (17)
Men's Saber
Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass. / Harvard)
Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y. / St. John's)
Women's Saber
Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J. / Duke)
Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J. / St. John's)
Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore. / Notre Dame)
*Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J. / Penn State)
Men's Epee
Jason Pryor (South Euclid, Ohio / Ohio State)
Women's Epee
Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C. / Princeton)
Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas / Notre Dame)
Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas / Notre Dame)
*Katarzyna Trzopek (Redwood Hills, Calif. / Penn State)
Men's Foil
Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif. / Stanford)
Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif. / Notre Dame)
Miles Chamley-Watson (New York City, N.Y. / Penn State)
*Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Women's Foil
Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky. / Notre Dame)
Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Columbia)
*Team Replacement Athlete
Players Mentioned
