Oct. 9, 2009

QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's University sophomore Daryl Homer finished 25th in his first ever appearance at the 2009 Senior Fencing World Championships held in Antalya, Turkey.

In the first round of the men's sabre event, Homer defeated Oleksandr Torchuk of Turkey, 15-13, but fell to Jorge Pina of Spain, 15-12 in the round of 32.

In the women's sabre event, junior Dagmara Wozniak advanced to the round of 64 by posting a record of 3-2 in pool play, but was eliminated after dropping a tight 15-14 decision to fellow American Monica Aksamit.

"The biggest obstacle I had in this competition against top athletes was my mental game," Wozniak said. "But I know that the experience will help me in the future."

In the team competition, the U.S. women's sabre squad finished sixth overall, while the men placed seventh.

The women opened the team competition by beating Tunisia, but fell to a more experienced French squad in the round of eight. The U.S. then defeated Germany, 45-33, before losing the fifth place bout to Italy, 45-40.

On the men's side, the U.S. defeated Turkey in the first round, 45-20, but then lost to both Russia and China. In the final round, the Americans bounced back to defeat France, 45-43 and claim seventh place.