Ten Columbia High School fencers will be competing in the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Utah this February.

The Junior Olympics are held each year during the four-day President’s Day holiday weekend. This year, the tournament will take place at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 17 through February 20.. Approximately 2,000 entrants will compete in twelve men’s and women’s events in all three weapons.

But first, fencers must qualify to compete in this tournament.

Seven of the CHS fencers earned their spots during a two-day qualifying tournament, which drew hundreds of top-ranked fencers, at Rutgers University on November 26 and 27.

In the women’s events, Rachel Viqueira and Najiyyah Clark qualified in women’s foil.

In the men’s events, CHS fencers qualified in all three weapons categories: Max Gould, a sophomore, and Bryn Hammarberg, a freshman, qualified in epee for two Junior Olympic events. Sophomores Jared Lebron and John Kirk both qualified in foil, while Stowe Hammarberg, a senior, qualified in sabre.

Three more students — women’s epee fencer Haley Hart, women's saber fencer Alex Viqueira and men's saber fencer Andrew Kelley, who are returning stars to the CHS fencing roster — had “auto-qualified” for the Junior Olympics prior to the Rutgers tournament based on accumulated points for their individual, aggregate successes in a number of United States Fencing Association tournaments held previously in 2011.

This bodes well for Columbia and its 2011/2012 high school fencing season in pursuit of its third consecutive State Championship.