The boys saber fencing team won the Great Lakes Fencing Conference Championship at Marian Catholic High School on Feb. 5. The Maroons defeated Marion Catholic in the semifinal match and Stevenson High School in the championship match.

Senior Jonathon Liu won the individual saber Great Lakes Fencing Conference Championship, competing alongside sophomores Jacob Liu and William Zhang. The competition required the Maroons to compete as a team which differed from the individual competitions U-High often attends.

“I think we fenced really well,” William said. “There was potential for it to be hard, but  we fenced well enough that it wasn’t hard.”

At the championship, the team won 5-0 in the first bout against Deerfield Highland Park, 5-2 against Marian Catholic and 5-1 in the final against Stevenson. 

“We were going into it expecting to win, so when we won it felt more like a relief than happiness,” William said. 

Jacob said the fencing season has gone really well compared to previous years and winning the championship was a great way to end the season. 

“We were really excited since usually Lab isn’t known for their athletics,” Jacob said, “and we got a trophy, which was nice.” 

The win comes after the cancellation of the 2021 fencing season, making this the first time the team has competed together since 2020. 

“I think we’ve done a lot better,” Jacob said. “We’ve had more results compared to previous years, especially with winning the championship.”