The results showed for the senior fencer in Salt Lake City this weekend where she earned her highest tournament placement ever.
Litynski tied for third place for Division-I Women’s Sabre in UNC’s return to competition in the January North American Cup, a four-day tournament featuring top talent from across the United States.
The team came into the tournament with only two days of preparation, after not having practiced together since before Thanksgiving break. But that didn’t stop Litynski, who spent much of her break training at Beaches Sabre Club in New York with her old coach, Carolyn Washburn-Lapham.
“It’s very easy in fencing not to play consistently,” Litynski said. “So to perform the way I did this weekend was a definite confidence booster going into the rest of the season.”
Coach Ron Miller, who anticipated some rust from his athletes, thought the lack of practice time played a role in how the tournament went.
“It was a good reality check,” Miller said. “Jumping right back into competition and going up against fencers who have the ability to challenge or even beat you will be good for our team going forward.”
“Some of our athletes performed above our expectations and some didn’t perform as well as they had hoped. Overall, the weekend went as we thought it would go.”
Litynski’s performance was not the only impressive one. Other notable finishes were Cailtin Malone and Sarah Hanvy, who finished 39th and tied for 34th, respectively in the Division-I Women’s Sabre. Amanda Lalezarian also finished 20th in the Junior Women’s Foil.
