The Marauders men’s fencing teams collectively placed fourth at the Ontario University Athletics championships and took home an individual silver and a team bronze medal
On March 1 and 2, 2025, the Marauders men’s fencing teams wrapped up their OUA season at their championship tournament in Kingston, Ont. The men's épée team finished third, foil finished seventh, and the sabre team finished fourth. Overall, the Marauders placed fourth among 13 universities across Ontario.
Over the two-day tournament, fencers competed both individually and in teams of four in épée, foil and sabre. The individual tournaments took place on the first day of the championships, followed by the team tournaments on the second day.
The most notable individual performance came from fourth-year arts and science student Oscar Hand, who took home the individual silver medal in the men’s épée category.
In the team tournaments on the second day, the Marauders continued to see success, particularly the men's épée team, which placed third and took home a bronze medal. The men’s épée team was composed of Hand, PJ Kriemadis, Mohab Mefreh, Zachary Smith and Callum Williams.
Going into the individual bouts on day one, Hand did not expect himself to medal.
“I came into the tournament ranked fifth nationally, so based on that, I didn’t think I was going to medal,” said Hand.
I came into the tournament ranked fifth nationally, so based on that, I didn’t think I was going to medal.
Oscar Hand, Épée Fencer
McMaster Varsity Fencing
“My goal was to make top eight on day one since it’s my last year fencing at OUAs. Also, being from Kingston, my family and friends were in the stands, so there was that added pressure of wanting to do well,” said Hand.
Once Hand reached the semi-finals, he did not anticipate moving on to the finals.
“The fencer I faced in the semis was the best fencer in our age group pre-COVID, and he used to always beat me when we were younger,” said Hand.
Hand also commented on the dynamics of his semi-final matchup and how he managed to secure his win.
“His general strategy is to push the opposing fencer to the end of the strip and wait for a mistake to then capitalize. However, I’m very comfortable fencing on the edge of the piste,” said Hand.
Hand was able to gain an early lead on his opponent. However, near the end of the bout, the score became increasingly close.
“I got the score to 11-6, but then he went on a 6-1 run to tie up the score, and then time was up,” said Hand.
Hand explained that when the score is tied and time for a bout is up, a coin is flipped. The two competitors then fence for one minute, and if the score is still tied, the winner of the coin flip moves on. Hand won the coin flip but still managed to score before the minute was up.
“Because I won the coin flip, he had to attack me. We ended up at my end of the strip again, and I just hit him exactly the same way I had all bout, and it was enough,” said Hand.
Hand also reflected on the performance of his team on day two of the championships. After losing to the University of Toronto in the semi-finals, they secured their bronze medal in the third-place match against York University.
“It felt disappointing because we fenced Toronto in the semi-final and lost, but we absolutely could’ve won if I wasn’t as tired as I was. We were tantalizingly close to getting gold,” said Hand.
It felt disappointing because we fenced Toronto in the semi-final and lost, but we absolutely could’ve won if I wasn’t as tired as I was. We were tantalizingly close to getting gold.
Oscar Hand, Épée Fencer
McMaster Varsity Fencing
Hand also credited his teammate, fourth-year chemical engineering student Callum Williams.
“Callum exemplified resilience, never gave up and truly put his heart into it on team day. We definitely would not have won bronze had it not been for his fencing,” said Hand.
Callum exemplified resilience, never gave up and truly put his heart into it on team day. We definitely would not have won bronze had it not been for his fencing.
Oscar Hand, Épée Fencer
McMaster Varsity Fencing
When asked to sum up the season in one word, Hand said "driven."
“I worked a lot this year on small details like accuracy and getting free hits on people’s hands. This has definitely been the year where I made my biggest jump, and I’m glad to see my work has paid off with some medals,” said Hand.
After graduation, Hand looks to continue fencing. He also stated he is looking to start coaching, as he finds purpose in passing on knowledge to younger fencers.
Overall, the McMaster varsity fencing team’s performance at this year’s OUA championships was one of their strongest in recent years. Looking forward, they aim to continue the momentum they have built this year and bring home even more medals next season.
The Ontario University Athletics badminton championship took place the weekend of Feb. 28 to March 1, hosted by the University of Toronto. While U of T took home their fifth consecutive title, and Bethany So of the Varsity Blues took home the tournament’s award for women’s Most Valuable Player, the McMaster Marauders yielded a fifth-place finish after a victory against the Ryerson University Rams.
There were a total of eleven universities participating in the event, with McMaster scheduled to play three of them before potentially entering the playoff rounds. The Marauders took two of the three games, beating Guelph and Ontario Tech, but losing to Western.
Talia Ng, one of McMaster’s great athletes, played in the championships. Ng was named an OUA all-star after the tournament’s end. Her strong performances also earned her the title of Pinks Burgers’ female athlete of the week.
Talia Ng, one of McMaster’s great athletes, played in the championships. Ng was named an OUA all-star after the tournament’s end. Her strong performances also earned her the title of Pinks Burgers’ female athlete of the week.
“I feel incredibly honoured and grateful to have earned all these achievements,” said Ng. "All my hard work and sacrifices have paid off and I now know that I can really achieve whatever I put my mind to!”
Ng is no stranger to high-level achievements. In 2019, she was named the female athlete of the year by Badminton Canada. She is a great addition to McMaster’s badminton team, especially considering that she is only in her first year. After the Marauders’ fifth-place OUA finish, their future looks bright with such a young star on the team. Ng hopes to continue improving her time management skills, considering it crucial to both her academic and athletic success.
“In the future, I am hoping to continue what I am doing now: balancing academics and badminton at the same time. During the first semester, I really struggled with balancing the two, considering I am in the Life Sciences program, which is quite difficult and busy. By learning from my mistakes, I have learned how to manage my time and prioritize,” said Ng.
Despite a strong fifth-place finish in the OUA championships, Ng is confident the team is capable of more. She remains hungry for next season.
Despite a strong fifth-place finish in the OUA championships, Ng is confident the team is capable of more. She remains hungry for next season.
“Although I think we could have placed higher, I am still proud of our team’s achievement. All the ties we lost were very close and I know we could have taken those teams down,” said Ng.
She credits the work of her teammates, explaining the difficulty of their training. The team is never afraid of working hard and it clearly shows in their practice schedules.
“Everyone on the team has trained hard throughout the season and has improved a lot. I am also impressed by every one of my teammate’s commitment and dedication to the team; waking up at six am three days a week for practice is not easy. I can’t wait to train with the team again next year and compete at OUAs again!” said Ng.
Looking back at the program’s history, the only McMaster badminton title came from the women's team in the 1977-1978 season. Since 1996, men and women have competed in one category. With such a drought, any sense of promise can bring excitement to these teams. After a second-place finish last year, a fifth-place finish might have seemed underwhelming, but McMaster is currently known for its young talent, which could propel the team to some great results very soon. Building experience for these players is crucial for their development and could lead to a McMaster powerhouse that could achieve what past teams did not.
Despite being known as a relatively strong school for badminton, the Marauders have been unable to bring a badminton championship home year after year, for the past 52 years. Hopefully, a new crop of players will be able to fill in the gaps and make a run in the upcoming seasons. This is definitely a team to keep your eye on in the future.
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The 2019 U Sports Championship Cross Country Tournament was held last weekend on Nov. 9. Both the men’s and women’s teams travelled to Kingston for the tournament, which is widely regarded as the most important event of the year for cross country. Both teams put as much as they could into this tournament, knowing how important it was. The men’s team managed to place second overall. The first place seat went to the University of Calgary Dinos, who were the defending champions. The women’s team finished 13th.
Team Captain Caroline Forbes led the pack for the Women’s team achieving 27th overall at the tournament. This was an astounding 47 spots ahead of where she finished last year and was awarded the Pink’s Burgers athlete of the week for her accomplishment. Forbes is only a second-year runner yet is one of the team’s most accomplished athletes, she goes to show how in a year or two the women’s team has a great chance of going the distance and medaling at the U Sports Championship. Having such a young team can certainly be challenging, but the sky is the limit for the women’s team.
Leading up to nationals, men’s team veteran runner Max Turek and head coach Paula Schnurr revealed their preparation for the tournament, as well as some team goals.
“Our goal is not to just podium, but win. We left last year hungry for more, and know we have a really good shot this year. We’re fit and ready to roll and are excited to see what we can throw down,” said Turek.
“Our goal is not to just podium, but win. We left last year hungry for more, and know we have a really good shot this year. We’re fit and ready to roll and are excited to see what we can throw down,” said Turek.
Despite not placing first overall, as the team had hoped, their second and 13th place finishes are impressive. Just a week earlier, the men’s team came second and the women’s team placed fifth at the Ontario University Athletics cross country tournament.
“We went into OUAs hoping for the win, but we just didn’t have it that day. We know what went wrong, and where our weaknesses are, and what needs to be done in the future to capitalize and win a title. We still have a lot of confidence going into [nationals], expecting to be able to improve from our third place last year,” said Turek.
The team seems to have reflected on what went wrong at the OUAs and focused on key areas for improvement going into the U Sports Championships.
“After OUAs, our main focus was to just work as a team and concentrate on bringing home a U Sports national title. We wanted to make sure we were well rested going into championships, and be able to execute better than we did at OUAs,” Turek added.
Turek stressed the importance of a U Sports title, which the team came ever so close to, eventually settling for a second place finish. The U Sports championship is the biggest stage for them, as it is the only opportunity to compete at a national level. The team was looking forward to nationals for the entire year, and their eyes had been on the prize.
The men’s team trained specifically for this event over the past year, with all other competitions acting as lead-up to the U Sports tournament. When coach Schnurr was asked about the team’s training regiment and goals, she offered a similar response to Turek.
“After OUAs, our main focus was to just work as a team and concentrate on bringing home a U Sports national title. We wanted to make sure we were well rested going into championships, and be able to execute better than we did at OUAs,” said Schnurr.
“After OUAs, our main focus was to just work as a team and concentrate on bringing home a U Sports national title. We wanted to make sure we were well rested going into championships, and be able to execute better than we did at OUAs,” said Schnurr.
As good as second place is, the team isn’t satisfied. This year was significant for cross country, as both the men’s and women’s teams improved from their last year finishes at U Sports. Last year, the men’s team placed third, and the women’s team placed 15th.
This year, Turek, Alex Drover and Andrew Davies of the men’s team managed to place in the top ten at nationals, placing fifth, sixth and ninth respectively. McMaster was the only university to have three runners in the top 12. Drover and Turek made the All-Canadian first team, and Davies made the All-Canadian second-team, being chosen out of every runner in the country which is an incredible honour. Making an All-Canadian team means that out of all the qualified runners in the country they pick the very best for the first team and then the next best for the second team and so on.
The Marauders put up a strong fight on their way to finishing second and 13th in the most important cross country tournament of the year. It will be exciting to watch the teams next year as they improve and continue to dominate the track.
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