Homewood-Flossmoor High School Senior Lauren Murff became the school's first fencing gold medalist on Saturday, Nov. 12, when she captured the Women's Epee title at the Stevenson High School Open in Lincolnshire.

She fenced her way to the top of a field of 48 women from three states to finally defeat two-time Open champion, Frieda Venechuk from New Trier in the final bout. Murff won her second gold medal in Women's Epee on Saturday, Jan. 7, at the University of Chicago Lab School's Midwest Classic in Chicago. Here, she bested Sam Van Wees of Maine West High School 15-7 in a direct elimination bout after fencing her way through a field of 64 of the area's top fencers.

Besides the Maine West fencers, the tournament included about 350 fencers from New Trier, Stevenson, Marian Catholic, Marian Central Catholic, University of Chicago Lab School and several Chicago area fencing clubs. H-F has offered a fencing club for the past 10 years.