FOLLOWING in the footsteps of their eldest sister, Janna Yllysah and Sophia Shekinah Catantan ruled their respective divisions at the start of the UAAP Season 85 Fencing Championships on Thursday at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Gym in Manila.

Janna Yllysah Catantan, a 19-year-old second year Occupational Therapy student at UST, claimed the gold medal in women's individual foil as she bested Maricar Matienzo of University of the East (UE) in the finals, 15-9.

Catantan and Matienzo are teammates with Samantha Catantan and Justine Gale Tinio for this year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia.

It was the first gold medal for Janna Yllysah Catantan in the UAAP as she finished either with a bronze or silver medal as a high school student at UST behind Samantha (formerly of UE) and Matienzo.

'It was very satisfying; I'm very happy to finally win a gold medal in the UAAP — a dream come true,' she said.

Samantha, a five-time MVP in UAAP high school, is now fencing for Penn State University in the US NCAA.

Nami Noro of University of the Philippines and Eytria Olarte got the bronze medal each.

Sophia Shekinah Catantan, a 13-year-old Grade 7 student, edged Aubrey Paulene Fernandez, 15-7, in an all-UE girls foil finals. It was also the first gold medal for the young fencer as she is now on track to win the Rookie of the Year award, which her sister Samantha won in 2014.

'I'm happy to win the gold. Being a rookie, it's a big accomplishment for me,' said the third of four daughters of Jon and Aileen Catantan.

De La Salle Zobel's Miyake Capina and Martina Baccay earned the bronze in the division.

The other winners in Day 1 of the fencing meet include Prince John Francis Felipe in men's epee, Eunice Daniel Villanueva of UST in men's sabre, Von Eubert Gale of UE in boys epee, and Thomas Cabrera of Ateneo in boys sabre.