Oxley won their fourth national foils title in five years with a successful defence of their 2007 title.

The boys also performed strongly in the Oceania and Australia championships. John Downes quick reflexes earned him selection in the Australian team for the Youth Olympics in Sydney in January, and also for both the Australian foil and epee teams that will compete at the Commonwealth Championships in Malaysia in February.

“I am very proud to be fencing for Australia, and would like to thank my coach Jeff Gray for all his help, and retired coach Roland von Zopf who taught me how to fence,” he said.

Oxley swept all in their path in the Schools championship, making them the most successful school fencing team in Australia.

They defeated Newington College 45-28, Brisbane State School 45-10, Melbourne High 45-9 and in the final, Brisbane Grammar 45-29.

The team has won every possible trophy and shield a school team can win at NSW state and national level - a remarkable achievement especially considering all the other schools select their best four fencers for team events, while Oxley College had just three senior fencers, the minimum number allowed for entry.

Team captain Nick Davies was elated.

“The team did very well, we brought our A game in from start to finish and worked hard for every hit,” he said.

“Whether we took the gold or not I was proud to be a part of it. It’s just a bonus we did win.”

Following the school team event the boys went on to compete in the National foil competition and achieved some fantastic individual results. Max Peek placed sixth, Downes seventh and Davies 11th. Davies and Peek went on to win bronze medals as part of the NSW B team, while Downes won gold in the NSW A team.

On day four of competition the boys were joined by two other Highland fencers, epeeists Luke Mansfield from Moss Vale and Daniel Alchin from Bowral, for the Australian Junior epee competitions.

For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Monday, October 13

sport.highlandnews@ruralp ress.com