University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Junior Olympics
Johnson Brings Home Silver Medal At Junior Olympics
January 9, 2026 | Fencing
KANAS CITY, KAN. - Dagny Johnson had another incredible performance in her freshman campaign, finishing as the Junior Women's Sabre national runner-up at the Junior Olympics on Friday Jan 9.
The sabre fencers for Carolina had impressive starts to the new year. Both Johnson and Samantha Maryash outperformed their rankings heading into the tournament. Johnson came in as the 18th-ranked fencer, Maryash was the 95th. Maryash finished in 32nd. The duo faced off in the pools to determine seeding for the direct-elimination portion of the tournament. After the pool portion of the event, Johnson was tied for 68th and Maryash in 114th, but both Tar Heel fencers had incredible runs and showed their talent.
Johnson had an incredible run in the D.E., winning seven straight bouts, including No. 5 Cathleen Shi from Penn and posted multiple victories by five points or more, before the finals, where she battled and finished with silver with a final score of 15-12.
Maryash won her first-round match by five points before upsetting No. 13 Soeun Kang. The freshman saberiest won her last bout of the day by nine points before loosing in the round of 32.
Results
Junior Women's Sabre
32. Samantha Maryash
Junior Men's Foil
79. Peter Bruk
