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Wayne State junior men's epeeist Slava Zingerman (pictured below) etched his place in NCAA fencing history on March 20, winning his third straight NCAA title (see earlier blog postings about three/four-time NCAA champs; also see HISTORY tab). 

Originally from Noyabursh, Russia, Zingerman immigrated with his family to Israel when he was six years old. His current hometown of Ashkelon features Israel's largest fencing club. Zingerman served in the Israeli military before enrolling at Wayne State as a 22-year-old freshman ... and going on to become a three-time NCAA champion.

Shortly after winning the 2009 NCAA men's epee title, Zingerman was able to take a few minutes for an audio interview with CF360 editor Pete LaFleur. A link to the audio and a text transcript follow below. (Look for more on Zingerman's historical achievements – plus a full recap of the men's epee competition, complete with photos and video footage – coming soon to the CF360 blog.) 

CLICK HERE  for link to audio version of the Zingerman interview.

CF360: "You defeated Princeton's Graham Wicas in the final bout. Have you fenced him much before?"

SZ: "I fenced him third time in my life, first bout 15 touches. [Also] today five touches and last nationals. Last year I beat him five touches, but today I lost to him five touches, so it was nice to win 15 touches."

CF360: "Did that loss to Wicas earlier in the day help you in the final bout?"

SZ: "Before the bout started, me and my coach decided what tactics to use, how to fence him and it worked. ... I just let him push me."

CF360: "You've adjusted well to college fencing, as a three-time NCAA champion. What do you like about college fencing?"

SZ: "The first thing I like about it, that other countries do not have, is that it lets the students continue being athletes. It gives a great opportunity to not stop with sports and get education."

CF360: "What are you majoring in?"

SZ: "I still have one year to decide, but I would like to stay here for a while in the U.S. ... I just like this major. I'm good with science. I was thinking – what would I like to do when I am done with sports?  – and I thought I might be good in [engineering]."

SZ: "There was good opportunities to practice, places to practice, to work with my personal coach."

SZ: "I tried not to think about it. Before each bout, I tried to think of how to beat the particular bout. When you win the bout, it just moves you closer to the gold. That's how I prepare myself.

CF360: "Are there certain college fencers who you admire most or who pose the greatest challenge for you?"

SZ: "All of the guys in the [NCAA] 24 are good fencers, but one guy who I think is a very good, challenging fencer – [freshman Igor] Tolkachev from Ohio State, [Princeton sophomore Graham] Wicas, [junior Mykhaylo] Mazur from Wayne State, my teammate. [xxxx Daniel] Trapani was doing pretty well from Air Force today.

SZ: "I started really bad in the pools. I was first [seed] in the region, but I was under pressure and my coach wasn't there. I started the pools bad, I lost three and I won three. It was my luck that they had reparcharge. I lost my first 15-touches bout and then through the reparcharge I made it to the first place. I was just stressed. It's hard to fence good all the time."

SZ: "When I started college, it was my first time in the U.S. I really like New York. It's where my coach lives and when I have the time I'm going to practice there. Most of the best fencers are practicing over there."

Emmanuil Kaidanov (pictured below) – who just completed his 27th season as head fencing coach at  Penn State – sat down with CF360 editor Pete LaFleur to reflect on his program's 11th NCAA combined team title, spanning the past 20 years.

CLICK HERE  for link to audio version of this interview 

CF360: "How does this championship compare to the other 10?"

EK: "Every championship is unique. To win this championship is the same feeling as to win the very first one. It is a great feeling of accomplishment, happiness for the kids that achieved the pinnacle of their desire. And also, four individual champions – it's unbelievably great. Practically everybody that fenced in the final won gold medal. I don't think it's possible to repeat [that feat], at least not probably in my lifetime. 

"It's a great, great feeling of achieving something really big. And, besides, the number of victories [195] is repetition of our best record. The second[-best] result was shared with Ohio State – 194 victories. But we repeated our victories with 195 at the championships.

"I thought we could do better this year, after the men finished with 98 victories. We were close to that – but, that's sport."

The 2009 NCAA champions (photo by Pete LaFleur/CF360)

CF360: "Discuss Nick Chinman winning the men's foil competition."

EK: "Nick generally is a very creative fencer. He would get some ideas in general how to build a bout, and he develops is very nicely. He has a mind of his own and is capable of executing a lot of technical things, so his victory is no surprise to me – but the way he got to this victory was difficult, probably. First, he was behind 11-15 [in the semifinals] to his teammate, Miles Chamley-Watson, and he pulled it through. Second, [in the final] he was 6-11 behind [Notre Dame's Gerek] Meinhardt, and to pull bout from Meinhardt like that – it's just great.

"With Nick, the most important thing is not to be in his way, try to help him with what he has, try to help him understand more about himself – and that's what I'm trying to do, to give him knowledge about who Nick Chinman is. And it helps."

Chinman (far left) and Chamley-Watson are set to return in 2010 (photo by Pete LaFleur/CF360)

CF360: "Your other men's weapon title came in sabre – and again you had a pair of fencers in that medal round, with Alek Ochocki and Daniel Bak."

EK: "Alek had a series of injuries throughout the season, including a broken bone in his shoulder. So he practically was not really trained for the championships and we were very much concerned about his ability to perform, considering how little ability he has left after the [shoulder] operation. However, he and Daniel have something which makes them so great. They have passion and passion owns the world. They are incredible competitors and that compensates a lot of things. Those guys are so strong – the sky's the limit."

The spirited sabre duo of Alek Ochocki (far left) and Daniel Bak (photo by Pete LaFleur/CF360)

CF360: "You will be losing a valuable leader in men's epeeist Jimmy Moody."

EK: "First of all, we are not 'losing' him. We have a kind of philosophy that you are with us forever. We will not have him in our ranks to compete, but he will be always with us. On his example, we can develop other fencers, young fencers. Jimmy is extremely valuable for the team, he is a team captain. He is a very important person. Someone will have to step in and replace him next year. We have a bunch of good fencers who are quite capable and who have the desire to become new starting members of our team. So we are looking forward to that."

CF360: "Doris Willette won the NCAA foil title as a freshman, fenced with the '08 Olympic team, and then came back to win again this year. But she had to overcome a rough start at the NCAs, correct?"

EK: "Doris's start was quite rocky and, for a moment, there was even doubts if she could make top-4. Second day, she fenced flawlessly, finishing 9-0, and she got through to the top-4. After she made top-4, her desire to win was so great. That really led her to a tremendous victory over Emily Cross, who is a terrific fencer, the best fencer in the women foil that we [the U.S.] has ever had – at least in my memory, the last 30 years. In the final, she had an opponent [ND's Hayley Reese] who beat her twice this year; however, it was kind of connected to knowledge for Doris – how to approach the bout, how to win it, and she did. 

"Fencing is a fight not only of technique and athletic abilities, but also mind and smarts – and Doris is smart."

Willette (right) outdueled Cross in an 8-7, overtime thriller (photo by Pete LaFleur/CF360)

CF360: "Your final individual champion, epeeist Anastasia Ferdman, fenced with tremendous emotion and really seemed to feed off the home crowd."

EK: "The Notre Dame [women's epeeists] are extremely strong fencers, who have a number of titles. They maybe inside thought that to win this [epee] championship was kind of given. Well, in collegiate competition, nothing is for granted. Whoever has more desire, whoever has more passion is going to end up a winner. That happened this time.

"It's difficult to tell of [Ferdman's] victory from a certain strategy. It's a victory of desire, a victory of passion as I mention again – I like this word, because it puts together a lot of things."

Anastasia Ferdman (right) defeated fellow Israeli Noam Mills to claim the NCAA epee title (photo by Pete LaFleur/CF360)

CF360: "Finally, we know you want to thank all the tremendous people behind the scenes who helped make the 2009 NCAAs such a great event, for the athletes and spectators alike."

EK: "We had a superb crew here, which prepared the gym for the competition, who maintained the whole order for the four days of competition, who cleaned it up. Those guys are great. They are really dedicated people and they want to make sure that everybody who came here enjoyed the championships – and I believe they have achieved that goal. It was tremendously well-run, very well-organized and it becomes kind of an example for others to run the championships."

Here's a look at the best teammate combinations at the 2009 NCAA Fencing Championships, based on three different categories (combined wins; combined indicators; and combined placement).

When factoring in all three categories, CollegeFencing360 recognizes these five as the top NCAA Championship duos for 2009:

(1) Penn St. M-Sabre, 37-9/+87  (1st-Aleksander Ochocki 19-4/+39;  4th-Daniel Bak 18-5/+48)
(2) Penn St. W-Foil, 36-10/+70  (1st-Doris Willette 20-3/+57;  7th-Allison Glasser 16-7/+34)
(3) Notre Dame W-Epee, 38-6/+72  (3rd-Courtney Hurley 21-2/+36;  4th-Ewa Nelip 17-6/+36)
(4) PSU M-Foil, 36-10/+70  (1st-Nick Chinman 17-6/+23; 3rd-Miles Chamley-Watson 19-4/+56)
(5) Ohio St. M-Sabre, 35-11/+83  (3rd-Mike Momtselidze 19-4/+60;  8th-Matt Sterns 16-7/+230

MOST COMBINED ROUND-ROBIN WINS (2009 NCAAs)
Notes: The 17 groups below (30-plus wins) include: four each from Penn State and Notre Dame, three from Ohio State, two from St. John's, and one each from Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Wayne State; also four in men's sabre and women's foil, three in women's sabre, and two in men's foil, women's epee and two men's epee.

38-6 (+72) – Notre Dame W. Epee (3rd-Courtney Hurley 21-2/+36;  4th-Ewa Nelip 17-6/+36)
37-9 (+87) – Penn St. Men's Sabre (1st-Aleksander Ochocki 19-4/+39;  4th-Daniel Bak 18-5/+48)
36-10 (+70) – PSU M. Foil (1st-Nick Chinman 17-6/+23; 3rd-Miles Chamley-Watson 19-4/+56)
36-12 (+91) – Penn St. W. Foil (1st-Doris Willette 20-3/+57;  7th-Allison Glasser 16-7/+34)

35-11 (+83) – Ohio St. Men's Sabre (3rd-Mike Momtselidze 19-4/+60;  8th-Matt Sterns 16-7/+23)
34-12 (+70) – Columbia W. Sabre (4th-Daria Schneider 19-4/+56;  7th-Jackie Jacobson 15-8/+14)
34-12 (+66) – St. John's W. Sabre (3rd-Dagmara Wozniak 19-4/+57;  8th-Dora Varga 15-8/+9) 
33-13 (+58) – Penn St. W. Sabre (5th-Monica Aksamit 19-4/+49;  11th-Caity Thompson 14-9/+9)
33-15 (+64) – Notre Dame Women's Foil (2nd-Hayley Reese 19-4/+48;  9th-Adi Nott 14-9/+16)

32-14 (+75) – ND Men's Foil (2nd-Gerek Meinhardt 19-4/+50;  8th-Enzo Castellani 13-10/+25)
31-15 (+32) – Wayne St. M. Epee (1st-Slava Zingerman 17-6/+32;  9th-Mykhaylo Mazur 14-9/E)
31-15 (+28) – Harvard W. Foil (4th-Emily Cross 21-2/+57;  17th-Shelby MacLeod 10-13/-29)
31-17 (+59) – Ohio St. W. Foil (3rd-Oksana Dmytruk 22-1/+67;  18th-Lindsay Knauer 9-14/-8)

30-16 (+36) – Notre Dame Men's Sabre (5th-Avery Zuck 17-6/+3-;  10th-Barron Nydam 13-10/+6)
30-16 (+37) – Ohio State Men's Epee (4th-Jason Pryor 15-8/+24;  11th-Igor Tolkachev 13-10/+13)
30-16 (+33) – St. John's Men's Sabre (2nd-Daryl Homer 17-6/+33;  11th-Alejandro Rojas 13-10/E)
30-16 (+24) – Princeton W. Epee (5th-Susannah Scanlan 17-6/+21;  11th-Jasjit Bhinder 13-10/+3)

BEST COMBINED TEAMMATE INDICATOR TOTAL (2009 NCAA Round-Robin)

+91 (36-10) – Penn St. Women's Foil (1st-Doris Willette 20-3/+57;  7th-Allison Glasser 16-7/+34)
+87 (37-9) – Penn St. Men's Sabre (1st-Aleksander Ochocki 19-4/+39;  4th-Daniel Bak 18-5/+48)
+83 (35-11) – Ohio St. Men's Sabre (3rd-Mike Momtselidze 19-4/+60;  8th-Matt Sterns 16-7/+23)
+75 (32-14) – ND Men's Foil (2nd-Gerek Meinhardt 19-4/+50;  8th-Enzo Castellani 13-10/+25)

+72 (+38) – Notre Dame Women's Epee (3rd-Courtney Hurley 21-2/+36;  4th-Ewa Nelip 17-6/+36)
+70 (36-10) – PSU M. Foil (1st-Nick Chinman 17-6/+23; 3rd-Miles Chamley-Watson 19-4/+56)
+70 (34-12) – Columbia W. Sabre (4th-Daria Schneider 19-4/+56;  7th-Jackie Jacobson 15-8/+14)
+66 (34-12) – St. John's W. Sabre (3rd-Dagmara Wozniak 19-4/+57;  8th-Dora Varga 15-8/+9) 
+64 (33-15) – Notre Dame Women's Foil (2nd-Hayley Reese 19-4/+48;  9th-Adi Nott 14-9/+16)

+59 (31-17) – Ohio St. W. Foil (3rd-Oksana Dmytruk 22-1/+67;  18th-Lindsay Knauer 9-14/-8)
+58 (33-13) – Penn St. W. Sabre (5th-Monica Aksamit 19-4/+49;  11th-Caity Thompson 14-9/+9)
+57 (30-16) – Ohio State Men's Foil (5th-Collin Sutter 16-7/+36;  7th-Andras Horanyi 14-9/+21)

BEST COMBINED PLACEMENT (2009 NCAAs)
Notes: The 15 groups below indicate teammate pairs who were 2009 All-Americans/top-12 ... there are four from Penn State and Notre Dame, two from Ohio State and St. John's, and one each from Columbia, Wyne State and Princeton ... there are four All-America teammate pairs in men's sabre, three in women's sabre, and two each in men's foil, men's epee, women's foil and women's epee.

Both Fencers in Medal Round

Penn State Men's Foil (1st-Nick Chinman 17-6/+23;  3rd-Miles Chamley-Watson 19-4/+56)
Penn State Men's Sabre (1st-Aleksander Ochocki 19-4/+39;  4th-Daniel Bak 18-5/+48)
Notre Dame Women's Epee (3rd-Courtney Hurley 21-2/+36;  4th-Ewa Nelip 17-6/+36)

Both Fencers in Top-8 (in addition to those above)

Penn State Women's Foil (1st-Doris Willette 20-3/+57;  7th-Allison Glasser 16-7/+34)
Notre Dame Men's Foil (2nd-Gerek Meinhardt 19-4/+50;  8th-Enzo Castellani 13-10/+25)
Ohio State Men's Sabre (3rd-Mike Momtselidze 19-4/+60;  8th-Matt Sterns 16-7/+23)
St. John's Women's Sabre (3rd-Dagmara Wozniak 19-4/+57;  8th-Dora Varga 15-8/+9) 
Columbia Women's Sabre (4th-Daria Schneider 19-4/+56;  7th-Jackie Jacobson 15-8/+14)

Both Fencers in Top-12 (in addition to those above)

Wayne State Men's Epee (1st-Slava Zingerman 17-6/+32;  9th-Mykhaylo Mazur 14-9/E)
Notre Dame Women's Foil (2nd-Hayley Reese 19-4/+48;  9th-Adi Nott 14-9/+16)
St. John's Men's Sabre (2nd-Daryl Homer 17-6/+33;  11th-Alejandro Rojas 13-10/E)
Ohio State Men's Epee (4th-Jason Pryor 15-8/+24;  11th-Igor Tolkachev 13-10/+13)
Notre Dame Men's Sabre (5th-Avery Zuck 17-6/+3-;  10th-Barron Nydam 13-10/+6)
Penn State Women's Sabre (5th-Monica Aksamit 19-4/+49;  11th-Caity Thompson 14-9/+9)
Princeton Women's Epee (5th-Susannah Scanlan 17-6/+21;  11th-Jasjit Bhinder 13-10/+3)

2009 NCAA Fencing Women's Foil Final Standings

First Team All-Americans
1. Doris Willette (Penn State; Jr.; Lafayette, CA) ... 20-4/+57
2. Hayley Reese  (Notre Dame; So.; Crestwood, KY) ... 19-5/+48
3. Oksana Dmytruk (Ohio State; So.; Kiev, Ukraine)  ... 22-2/+67
4. Emily Cross (Harvard; 5th-Yr.-Sr.; New York, N.Y.)  ... 21-3/+57

Second Team All-Americans
5. Nicole Ross (Columbia; So.; New York, N.Y.)  ... 19-5/+44
6. Samantha Nemecek (Northwestern; Sr.; Caledonia, MI)  ... 17-7/+32
7. Allison Glasser (Penn State, Sr.; Piedmont, CA)  ... 16-8/+34
8. Katharine Pitt (Yale; Fr.; New York, NY)  ... 15-9/+7

Third Team All-Americans
9 Adi Nott (Notre Dame; Sr.; Pittsford, NY)  ... 14-10/+16
10. Melissa Parker (Temple; Jr.; Austin, TX)  ... 12-12/E
11. Sophie Ciaravino (NYU; So.; North Wales, PA)  ... 12-12/-41
12. Pilar Alicea (UC San Diego; Jr.; San Francisco, CA) ... 11-13/-7

Other Entrants
13. Devynn Patterson (Northwestern; Fr.; Seattle, WA)  ... 11-13/-10
14. Lucile Jarry (Princeton; Fr.; Larchmont, NY)  ... 11-13/-12
15. Laura Paragano (Penn; Fr.; Verbardsville, NJ)  ... 10-14/-10
16.  Abby Caparros-Janto (Columbia; So.; Maplewood, NJ)  ... 10-14/-11
17. Shelby MacLeod (Harvard; Fr.; Sturbridge, MA)  ... 10-14/-29
18. Lindsay Knauer (Ohio State; Jr.; Medford, NJ)  ... 9-15/-8
19. Alyssa Lomuscio (Fairleigh Dickinson; Fr.)  ... 9-15/-19
20. Jessica Tranquada (Cornell; So.; Stony Brook, NY)  ... 7-17/-19
21. Valeria Makeeva (Yale; Fr.; Roswell, GA) ... 7-17/-27
22. Jessica Wacker (Stanford; Jr.; Saratoga, CA)  ... 6-18/-52
23. Andrea Oliva  (Princeton; Fr.; Pjiladelphia, PA)  ... 5-19/-43
24. Amanda Rysling (NYU; So.; Hermosa Beach, CA)  ... 5-19/-49
25. Nora Szita(St. John's; Jr.)  ... 2-22/-62  

FOIL QUICK NOTES: Willette had a slow start in Saturday's rounds and ended the day in 6th-place (11-4), but she went undefeated on Sunday (9-0) and edged Columbia's Ross on indicators (+48 to +44) for the final medal-round spot ... UCSD's Alicea was in 10th-place after Saturday (8-6) and held on to All-America status, finishing 12th after closing 3-7 on Sunday ... NYU's Ciavino surged on Sunday (6-3) to snatch an All-America spot (11th; 12-12),  with Columbia's Caparros-Janto sliding from 12th to 16th (7-8 on Sat.; 3-6 on Sun.) ... Midwest rivals Nott (6th-3rd-4th in '06-'08) and Nemecek (8th-7th-8th in '06-'08) ended their careers as rare four-year All-Americans ... harvard's Cross ('05 champ, 3rd in '06) and Temple's Parker (9th in '07, 7th in '08) claimed All-America honors for the third time ... Willette (also the '07 champ) was among the second-time All-America honorees, as were OSU's Dmytruk ('08 runner-up), Ross (3rd in '08), PSU's Glasser (5th in '08), and ND's Reese (11th in '08) ... OSU's Knauer (6th in '08) failed to post another top-12 finish.

       

2009 NCAA Fencing Women's Epee Final Standings

First Team All-Americans
1. Anastasia Ferdman (Penn State; Jr.; Maalot, Israel) ... 17-6/+38
2. Noam Mills (Harvard; Fr.; Kfar Saba, Israel) ... 21-2/+52
3. Courtney Hurley (Notre Dame; Fr.; San Antonio, TX) ... 21-2/+36
4. Ewa Nelip (Notre Dame; So.; Katowice, Poland) ... 17-6/+36
(Ferdman beat Hurley in the semifinals, 15-13, and Mills in the final, 15-9 ... Mills def. Nelip in the other semifinal, 15-112

Second Team All-Americans

5. Susannah Scanlan (Princeton; Fr., St. Paul, MN) ... 17-6/+21
6. Neely Brandfield-Harvey (Columbia; Fr.; Houston, TX)  ... 16-7/+23
7. Christa French (Northwestern; Jr.; Southlakd, TX) ... 16-7/+20
8. Tanya Novakovska (St. John's; Jr.; Nikolaev, Ukraine) ... 14-9/+14

Third Team All-Americans

9. Stephanie Wheeler (Penn; The Woodlands, TX) ... 14-9/+6
10. Kristin Howell (Temple; Jr.; San Antonio, TX) ... 13-10/+16
11. Jasjit Bhinder (Princeton; Sr.; Newburgh, NJ) ... 13-10/+3
12. Joanna Guy (St. John's; 5th-Yr. Sr.; Toronto, Ontario) ... 12-11/-6

Other Entrants

13. Nina Westman (Penn State; Fr.; Kalmar, Sweden) ... 11-12/+1
14. Rebecca Moss (Yale; Jr,; Mesa, AZ) ... 11-12/E
15. Grace Wu (Temple; So.; Beaverton, OR) ... 9-14/-11
16. Julia Tikhonova (Ohio State; Jr.; Jerusalem, Israel)  ... 8-15/-4
17. Maria Larsson (Harvard; Jr.; Stockholm, Sweden) ... 8-15/-18
18. Tess Finkel (Columbia; Jr.; New York, NY)  ... 7-16/-12
19. Tasha Hall (Cornell; Jr.; Los Angeles, CA) ... 7-16/-39
20. Kayley French (Northwestern; Jr.; Southlake, TX) ... 6-17/-16
21. Miriam Baranov  (Ohio State; Fr.; Powell, OH) ... 6-17/-29
22. Kersten Schnurle (Stanford; So.; Santa Clara, CA) ... 5-18/-42
23. Simone Barrette (Air Force; Fr.; Louisville, KY) ... 4-19/-43
24. Sallie Dietrech (Cornell; Jr.; Lincoln, NE) ... 3-20/-46

EPEE QUICK NOTES: SJU's Novaskova rallied to All-America honors (7-7/14th place on Sat., went 7-2 on Sun.), as did Temple's Howell (7-7/13th on Sat,; 7-2 on Sun.) ... the fencers who fell out of All-America status were PSU's Westman (8-6/11th on Sat.; 3-6 on Sun.) and Yale's Moss (8-6/10th on Say.; 3-6 on Sun.) ... Harvard's Larsson was a few spots shy of her fourth career All-America finish ... PSU's Ferdman became a three-time All-American (4th in '07, 6th in '08), as did Novaskova (5th in '07, 8th in '08) and Northwestern's Christa French (6th in '07, 10th in '08), while four others placed in the top-12/All-America for the second time: SJU's Joanna Guy (10th in '05, 20th in '06), Princeton's Bhinder (21st in '07, 11th in '08), ND's Nelip (3rd in '08) and Temple's Howell (9th in '08).

2009 NCAA Fencing Women's Sabre Final Standings
First Team All-Americans
1. Becca Ward (Duke; Fr.; Portland, OR) ... 22-1/+77
2. Caroline Vloka (Harvard; Fr.; Upper Saddle River, NJ) ... 20-3/+53
3. Dagmara Wozniak  (St. John's; Jr.; Avenel, NJ) ... 19-4/+57
4. Daria Schneider (Columbia; Jr.; Brookline, MA) ... 19-4/+56
(Ward beat Schneider in the semifinals, 15-9, and Vloka in the final, 15-4 ... Vloka def. Wozniak in the other semifinal, 15-11)

Second Team All-Americans
5. Monica Aksamit (Penn State; Fr.; Matawan, NJ) ... 19-4/+49
6. Eileen Hassett  (Notre Dame; So.; Beaverton, OR) ... 15-8/+22
7. Jackie Jacobson  (Columbia; So.; Atlanta, GA) ... 15-8/+14
8. Dora Varga (St. John's; Sr.; Budapest, Hungary) ... 15-8/+9

Third Team All-Americans
9. Margarita Tschomakova (Ohio State; Fr.; Bonn, Germany) ... 14-9/+26
10. Falencia Miller (Ohio State; Fr.; So.; Decatur, GA) ... 14-9/+14
11. Caity Thompson (Penn State; Sr.; Portland, OR)  ... 14-9/+9
12. Dominika Franciszkowicz  (Penn; Fr.; Mt. Prospect, IL) ... 12-11/+2 (85 pts won)

Other Entrants
13. Sarah Borrmann (Notre Dame; So.; Beaverton, OR)  ... 12-11/+2 (82 pts won)
14. Danielle Kamis (Penn; Gladwyne, PA; Sr.; Carlisle, MA) ... 8-15/-19
16. Kamali Thompson (Temple; Fr.; Teaneck, NJ) ... 8-15/-21
17. Anna Hanley  (Brandeis; So.; Medford, MA) ... 8-15/-25
18. Audrey Barroso (Temple; So.; Atlanta, GA) ... 7-16/-25
19. Whitney White (Northwestern; Jr.; Wyckoff, NJ) ... 6-17/-40
20. Alex Heiss (Cornell; Sr.; Mamoroneck, NJ) ... 6-17/-44
21. Lisa Verzino (NYU; Fr.; Centereach, NY)  ... 5-18/-36
22. Robin Shin (MIT; Fr.; Brookline, MA)  ... 5-18/-46
23. Alyxandra Mattison (NYU; Jr.; Annandale, NJ) ... 2-21/-64
24. Alicia Trigeiro (UC San Diego; Jr.; La Mesa, CA)  ... 1-22/-63

SABRE QUICK NOTES: ND's Hassett stood in 11th place after Sat. (7-7) but ended up 6th, thanks to a near-perfect record on Sun. (8-1) ... PSU's Thompson posted her third career All-America season (4th in '06, runner-up in '07) but Stanford's Jellison missed out on becoming a four-time All-American (8th in '06, 10th in '07, 9th in '08) ... Hassett (5th in '08) repeated as an All-Ameican, as did Columbia's Schneider ('07 champion) and jacobson (6th in '08), SJU's Wozniak (5th in '07) and Penn's Kamis (10th) ... defending champion Sarah Borrmann missed 2009 All-America honors by the narrowest of margins (she and Penn's Dominika Franciszkowicz tied for 12th in wins, at 12-11, and they also tied +2 indicatores – but Franciszkowicz won 85 total points, to Borrmann's 82).

By Pete LaFleur (editor; CollegeFencing360.com)

(mixture of recap and historical perspective included below ... )

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (3/22/09) – The Penn State fencing program capped a dream week on Sunday by wrapping up the NCAA Combined Men's and Women's Championship while adding two more individual titles (by foilist Doris Willette and epeeist Anastasia Ferdman) for its overflowing trophy case. This marks the 11th time that the Nittany Lions have claimed the NCAA combined team title, in the 20 years since the current format made its debut in 1990.

Penn State also has claimed NCAA combined team titles in 1990, '91, six straight from 1995-2000, '02 and '07. The Nittany Lions now have been the champions twice in the past three years, after a four-year "drought" of not winning the title from 2003-06. During the past 20 years, only five other teams have won the NCAA team title: three by Notre Dame ('94, '03, '05), two each for Columbia ('92, '93) and Ohio State ('04, '08), and one each for St. John's ('01) and Harvard ('06).

PSU staked itself to a five-point lead on Ohio State following Thursday's opening day of bouting and maintained that cushion on OSU when the men's competition concluded on Friday (ND was 14 points out of the lead at the end of each of the first two days). Penn State's incredible balance could be seen in the fact that its six men's entrants combined to win 98 bouts, while the women won 97.

ND surged past OSU into second place on Saturday (the first day of the women's bouting), but the home team still held a 16-point lead entering this morning's first round. The Irish briefly chipped away at the lead (while Ohio State faded firmly into third), with the final margin ultimately giving Penn State a 195-182 advantage over Notre Dame (OSU finished at 166).

PSU fencers won two of the men's events – foil (junior Nick Chinman) and sabre (freshman Aleksander Ochocki) – and then cheered on Willette and Ferdman to their victories, as Penn State became the first fencing program ever to win four NCAA individual titles in the same year. This nearly 70-year-old tournament featured only the three men's events from the early 1940s ubtil 1982, when women's foil debuted as an NCAA championship event (women's epee followed in '95, then women's sabre in 2000).

A quick glance through the record book reveals that it actually had been 10 years since one school had won even three NCAA individual titles – dating back to the 1999 Stanford team that was led by NCAA champs Felix Reichling (men's foil), Felicia Zimmerman (women's foil) and Monique DeBruin (women's epee). During the four-weapon era (1982-94), Columbia won all three men's weapons in 1988, in the form of foilist Marc Kent, epeeist Jon Normile and sabreist Bob Cottingham (ND's Molly Sullivan was the women's foil champ). The only teams to win all three men's weapons prior to 1982 were Navy in 1959 and NYU (in both '60 and '61).

Penn State's 195 wins at the 2009 NCAAs match the most in the six-weapon format, dating back to 1990 when women's sabre made its debut. Penn State's 2002 team also posted 195 victories, but there were 101 wins by the PSU men that year and 94 by the women (unlike the near-perfect gender-balanced point total from the '09 Nittany Lions).

In fact, a school has posted 90-plus wins in both its men's and women's bouts only four times under the current format: the aforementioned '02 and '09 PSU teams, Ohio State's 2004 championships squad (97 men's wins, 97 women's) and the St. John's runner-up team in 2002 (90 men's wins, 100 women's). That '02 tournament was a wild shootout – with PSU (195), SJU (190) and ND (186; 89 men/79 women) all topping the 185-win total.

For what it's worth, the most total men's wins in the six-weapon era (max. 138 bouts per team): 106 (SJU '01), 101 (PSU '02) and 98 (PSU '09). The most total women's wins since 1990: 105 (PSU '07), 103 (ND '05), 101 (OSU '08), 101 (PSU '00) and 100 (SJU '02). ... CF360 would love to go back and break down/compare the 2005 ND women (foilists Alicja Kryczalo and Andrea Ament; epeeists Amy Orlando and Kerry Walton; sabreists Mariel Zagunis and Valerie Providnza) and the 2007 PSU women's squad (foilists Willette and Tam Najm; epeeists Ferdman and Case Szarwark; sabreists Caity Thompson and Sophie Hiss). One interesting note is that all six of the above ND fencers – and four of the six from PSU (all but Najm and Szarwark) – were/have been an NCAA finalist at least once in their college careers.

Notre Dame's win total this week (183) would have been enough to win the NCAA title in 2000, '01, '03, '05 and '06 (Ohio State won in '08 with a similar win total, at 185). Penn State outscored Notre Dame this week in every weapon but women's epee, where the Irish turned in a  10-point advantage (38-28). The PSU men's 14-point margin on ND included a seven-win edge in sabre (37-30), plus four more wins than the Irish in foil (36-32) and three more in epee (25-22). The ND women actually won one more round-robin bout than PSU (98-97), despite being outscored by the Nittany Lions in sabre (33-27) and foil (36-33).

Willette claimed her second NCAA women's foil title on Sunday, also winning in '07 before not competing for PSU in '08 due to Olympic qualification. She survived an epic overtime bout (8-7) in the semifinals versus another former champion, Harvard fifth-year senior Emily Cross (who, like Willette, won as a freshman in '05). ND sophomore Hayley Reese held early leads in the foil title bout (2-0, 3-2 and 4-3) – but Willette flashed her championship "metal" and rattled off 12 of the final 13 points for the 15-5 victory.

Ferdman also beat an ND fencer (freshman Courtney Hurley) in the medal-round, again in stunning fashion. Hurley was on the verge of advancing to the final bout, with a 13-8 semifinal lead, before Ferdman got on a roll and scored seven straight touches for the 15-13 win. She faced another freshman – fellow Israeli Noam Mills (Harvard) – in the title bout and steadily built a lead before winning, 15-9, for her third All-America finish in as many seasons (4th in '07, 6th in '08).

Yet one more freshman, Duke's Becca Ward – who joined Cross, Willette and Mills as 2008 Olympians – competed in the medal round, capping her strong debut season in college fencing by winning the women's sabre competition. Ward followed up a 22-1 record in the round-robin by defeating Columbia junior Daria Schneider ('07 NCAA champ) in a 15-9 semifinal. She then finished her season by beating another freshman, Harvard's Caroline Vloka, in a 15-4 championship bout.

Harvard's women have been impressive all season, especially with their depth in foil and epee (plus Vloka's strong debut in sabre). It would have been great to see a three-fencer battle between the top teams, with each represented by one fencer in the three weapons. Top odds probably would have been given to the Harvard trio of Cross-Mills-Vloka, with similar consideration going to PSU's Willette-Ferdman-Monica Aksamit (a freshman who missed the sabre medal round based on total-point indicators).

Notre Dame's Hayley Reese and Penn State's Doris Willette will meet in the NCAA women's foil final, while PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Harvard freshman Noam Mills are the women's epee finalists.

Reese held off Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk (the '08 NCAA runner-up) in a 13-11 semifinal, while Willette nipped Harvard's Emily Cross, 8-7 in overtime, as the pair of former NCAA champions thrilled the crowd.

Ferdman roared back to knock off ND's Courtney Hurley, 15-13, while Mills also posted a comeback win over an ND fencer (Ewa Nelip), in a 15-13 bout.

CF360 will be collecting video and photos over the next couple hours – stay tuned for continuing coverage throughout the day.

With one round left in foil and epee, Penn State has clinched at least a share of the NCAA team title. PSU leads Notre Dame by 13 points (186-173), with the Irish having locked up yet another runner-up finish behind the Nittany Lions. Third-place Ohio State continues to fall back of ND, with 159 points.

Midway through Sunday's final day of bouting, Penn State continued to lead (as of 10:35), but its margin over second-place Notre Dame had shrunk to 12 points, 170-158. The Irish also had taken a firmer grip on second, with third-place Ohio State (150) falling 10 points behind ND. Earlier in the day, after one round of foil bouting, PSU's lead on ND actually had grown from 16 points to 20 – but the margin dropped eight points after all three weapons had been in action.

At the time of these standings (170-158-150), Penn State had 30 bouts remaining, while ND still had 32 left to fence. Again, if the Irish can rally to finish one point behind the Nittany Lions, there would be co-champions – since PSU fenced one more men's foil bout than ND (moments before Duke's Dorian Cohen withdrew due to injury).

CF360 has worked through the bugs and now is starting to post video coverage from the NCAAs – starting with a video interview of Penn State's Nick Chinman (the 2009 NCAA champion). Stay tuned for more video, to be added to the site throughout the next few days (note that there is an NCAA restriction on the amount of NCAA bouting footage that we can post on the site). We hope that you will enjoy this exciting new addition to the site – as the video is high-quality (shot in original full HD) and should highlight a wide sampling of fencers from throughout the country.

The link to the video interview with Chinman can be accessed via the "EXCLUSIVE VIDEO" left-sidebar tabs.

(note that the paragraph below regarding "vacated" bouts has been adjusted to indicate the potentiality – albeit extremely rare – that there still could be co-team champions, despite the current uneven number of projected total bouts.)

Penn State inched closer to winning the NCAA Combined Men's and Women's Fencing Championship, following Saturday's four rounds of bouting in each of the women's weapons. PSU entered the day with a 14-point cushion over second-place team Ohio State and now has a slightly bigger margin, as the new second-place team (Notre Dame) is 16 points behind the Nittany Lions (156-140). The Irish headed into Saturday trailing nine points behind their regional rival OSU, which now stands a single point behind ND (in third place).

Saturday's "afternoon half" of bouting (two rounds each in foil and epee) produced an impressive string of bouts for Notre Dame, which nearly went unbeaten in that stretch (23-1, compared to 18-6 for PSU and 18-6 by OSU) – as the Irish crept in front of the Buckeyes. Each of the top three teams has 54-56 bouts remaining for Sunday, with PSU likely to claim the title barring what would be an historic comeback by ND or OSU.

Note that ND and OSU (both 56) actually have two more bouts remaining than PSU (54), due to the unusual format with 25 women's foilists in the field (instead of the usual 24 for each weapon). One of the "travel groups" has four foilists (all others have three), and both ND and OSU have yet to face that four-fencer group.

There's also another "fluke" scoring issue floating out there, due to Thursday's withdrawal of Duke men's foilist Dorian Cohen. Per NCAA rules, Cohen's earlier bouts (before his injury) still count to the team and individual standings, but the bouts that were scheduled after his withdrawal are simply vacated (i.e not forfeited). The two ND foilists and the OSU pair all missed out on fencing Cohen, while PSU fenced him once – meaning that the Nittany Lions will end the tournament having fenced 275 total bouts (compared to 274 for ND and OSU).

The final team standings are based on victory total – but if ND or OSU somehow manage to finish only one win/point behind Penn State, then PSU's other bout vs. Cohen (a win) would be extracted from the team standings and there would be co-champions.

Penn State (58-20) narrowly edged ND (56-22) in overall won-loss record on Saturday, while OSU went only 46-32. The ND women's epeeists (Courtney Hurley and Ewa Nelip) were the class duo of the day, combining to go 24-2. The Irish also had a strong day in foil (20-6) but surprisingly finished sub-.500 in their sabre bouts (12-14).

The Ohio State women were projected to be competitive in foil and sabre but weakest in epee. That proved to be the case, as the OSU epeeists failed to crack double-digits in wins (9-17) but were much stronger  in foil (19-7) and sabre (18-8).

At the end of the day, it would appear that Penn State is deserving of the title thanks to talent and depth throughout all six weapons. PSU went 20-6 in foil, 20-6 in epee and 18-8 in sabre on Saturday, one day after seeing all three of its men's weapons total 25-plus wins (36-10 in foil, 25-21 in epee, 37-9 in sabre).

Notre Dame's fencers combined to go 8-4 vs. PSU and OSU on Saturday, while the Nittany Lions were 9-7 in those key bouts and the Buckeyes 3-5. Penn State's epee team still has some key bouts left for Sunday (vs. ND and OSU), with other crucial matchups on the final day including ND vs. OSU in both foil and sabre.

The Irish would appear to have the better chance than the Buckeyes of making a final-day push, as all six of the ND women's entrants are capable of  

KEY SATURDAY RESULTS (ND 8-4 ... PSU 9-7 ... OSU 3-5)
Women's Foil: Penn State vs. Ohio St. (PSU 2, OSU 2) ... Penn St. vs. Notre Dame (PSU 2, ND 2)
Women's Epee: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame (ND 4, OSU 0)
Women's Sabre: Penn St. vs. Notre Dame (ND 2, PSU 2) ... Penn St. vs. Ohio St. (PSU 3, OSU 1)

KEY SUNDAY BOUTS  
Women's Foil: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
Women's Epee: Penn State vs. Notre Dame ... Penn State vs. Ohio State
Women's Sabre: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State

Full team standings (with win totals in all six weapons) will be posted later, but here are the other top-10 teams heading into  Sunday: 4. Columbia 118; 5. St. John's 90; 6. Harvard 85; 7. Penn 84; 8. Princeton 75; 9. Stanford 66; 10. Yale 56.

Penn State has widened its lead at the NCAA Fencing Championships, midway through Saturday's bouting in the third day of this four-day event. All three of top contending teams – PSU, Ohio State and Notre Dame – have completed their sabre bouts (four rounds) and half of their bouts in foil and epee (two rounds each).

Penn State entered the day with a 14-point lead on Ohio State and now leads the Buckeyes by 18 (139-121), while third-place Notre Dame (117) has fallen 22 points behind PSU (ND was 14 off the pace heading into Saturday). The Irish have moved one point closer to the Buckeyes, now trailing their Midwest rival by only four.

PSU and OSU both went 18-8 in their sabre bouts on Saturday, while the Irish were only 12-14. Notre Dame has managed to match PSU with 14 epee wins through two rounds – far outdistancing OSU's four wins. The foil competition has been nearly even, with nine wins for PSU, seven by ND and six for OSU.

OSU's slow start in epee helped solidify PSU's grasp on the top spot. The Buckeyes lost all four of their epee bouts vs. Notre Dame and then were swept outright (0-6) in a round featuring Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan, along with Penn's Stephanie Wheeler.

The women's foil showdown between Penn State and Ohio State left the team standings unchanged, with the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes splitting the four bouts. All four fencers in this tense battled have finished sixth or higher at previous NCAA Championships.

OSU sophomore Oksana Dmytruk (the '08 NCAA runner-up) won both of her bouts, highlighted by a 5-1 victory over 2007 NCAA champion (and '08 U.S. Olympian) Doris Willette. Dmytruk also posted a 5-2 win over Allison Glasser, the 5th-place finisher at the '08 NCAAs. The PSU fencers countered by sweeping Lindsay Knauer (6th at '08 NCAAs), with Willette winning 5-1 and Glasser 5-2.

Here's an updated look at Saturday's key matchups between the top-three contending teams (still to come: ND-PSU foil and PSU-OSU sabre).

KEY SATURDAY MATCHUPS

Women's Foil: Penn State vs. Ohio State (PSU 2, OSU 2) ... Penn State vs. Notre Dame (round-3)

Women's Epee: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame (ND 4, OSU 0)

Women's Sabre: Penn State vs. Notre Dame (ND 2, PSU 2) ... Penn State vs. Ohio State (round-4)

The NCAA men's epee competition concluded on Friday with more of the same, as Wayne State junior Slava Zingerman claimed his third NCAA title with a 15-7 win in the title bout versus Princeton sophomore Graham Wicas. Zingerman earlier had topped Harvard's fifth-year senior Benji Ungar (the '06 NCAA champ) in a 15-11 semifinal, while Wicas won a tense semifinal against Ohio State senior Jason Pryor (15-14).

(medal-stand photo to be added later)

Ohio State was the only team among the top contenders to produce two men's epee All-Americans, as freshman Igor Tolkachev placed 11th. Wayne State also had a pair of All-Americans (junior Mykhaylo Mazur took 9th), as did Air Forice – with sophomore Daniel Trapani (5th) and junior Peter French (7th). 

The four medal-round fencers earned first team All-America status, with the second-teamers including Trapani, French, Penn State senior James Moody (6th), and Yale senior Michael Pearce (8th). Rounding out the All-Americans were third-teamers Mazur, Notre Dame senior Karol Kostka (10th), Tolkachev and Penn senior Ben Wieder.

Zingerman and Ungar (who also was 7th in '05) were the only men's epeeists to earn All-America honors for the third time. Four others became two-time All-Americans: Pryor (10th in '08), Pearce (5th in '06), Mazur (9th in '07) and Kostka (9th in '08).

Three former All-Americans failed to finish in the top-12 this time around: Columbia's Dwight Smith (7th in '06, 4th in '08), Stanley Vaksman of St. John's (7th in '07, 4th in '08) and Stanford senior Clayton Kenney (11th in '08).

Each of the top-4 hypothetical seeds lived up to that projection by reaching the medal round. Moody – a three-year NCAA Tournament – was seeded 19th but used a strong two days of bouting to finish 6th. Princeton's surging sophomore Mike Elfassy (#23 seed) nearly claimed All-America honors, while Columbia senior Lorenze Castertano (#21) also finished well above his seed and close to the top-12 (14th).

Vaksman (#10 seed; placed 19th) and Smith (#13 seed; placed 13th) finished well below their projected seed, while Stanford freshman Kevin Mo (17th) likewise ended up far below his anticipated finish.

2009 NCAA Fencing Men's Epee Final Standings

First-Team All-Americans
1. Slava Zingerman (Wayne State, Jr.; Ashkelon, Israel) ... 17-6/+32 ... (#2 seed) ... '07/'08 champ
2. Graham Wicas (Princeton, So.; Newtown Square, PA) ... 17-6/+33 ..... (#1 seed)
3. Benji Ungar (Harvard, Sr.; Bronx, NY) ... 15-8/+27 ... (#3 seed) ...  7th in '05, '06 champ
4. Jason Pryor (Ohio St., Sr.; So. Euclid, OH) ... 15-8/+24 ... (#4 seed) ... 17th-20th-10th in '06-'08  

Second Team All-Americans
5. Daniel Trapani (Air Force, So.; Houston, TX) ... 14-9/+20 ..... (#9 seed)
6. James Moody (PSU, Sr.; Denver, CO) ... 14-9/+17 ..... (#19 seed) ..... 19th in '06, 17th in '08 
7. Peter French (Air Force, Jr.; Austin, TX) ... 14-9/+13 ..... (#8 seed) ..... 14th in '07, 17th in '08  
8. Michael Pearce (Yale, Sr.; San Fran., CA) ... 14-9/+3 ..... (#12 seed) ..... 5th-21st-13th in '06-'08

Third Team All-Americans
9. Mykhaylo Mazur (WSU, Jr.; Khmeinitskiy, Ukraine) ... 14-9/E ... (#14 seed) ... 9th in '07 (w/ OS) 
10. Karol Kostka (ND, Sr.; Krakow, Poland) ... 13-10/+14 ... (#5 seed) ... 18th-11th-9th in '06-'08 
11. Igor Tolkachev (Ohio State, Fr.; St. Petersburg, Russia) ... 13-10/+13 ..... (#7 seed)
12. Ben Wieder (Penn, Sr.; Westfield, NJ) ... 13-10/-3 ... (#15 seed) ... 17th in '07, 23rd in '08  

Other Entrants
13. Mike Elfassy (Princeton, So.; Forest Hills, NY) ... 12-11/+4 ..... (#23 seed) ...  
14. Lorenzeo Casertano (Columbia, Sr.; Towson, MD) ... 12-11/+4 ..... (#21 seed) ..... 15th in '08  
15. Maxwell Dettlinger (Penn State, Jr.; Louisville, KY) ... 11-12/-4 ..... (#16 seed)
16. Clayton Kenney (STAN, Sr.; Denver, CO) ... 10-13/-2 ... (#11 seed) ... 20th-15th-11th in '06-'08  
17. Kevin Mo (Stanford, Fr.; Irvine, CA) ... 10-13/-14 ..... (#6 seed) .....  
18. Greg Schoolcraft (Notre Dame, So.; San Jose, CA) ... ..... (#18 seed) .....  
19. Stanley Vaksman (SJU, Sr..; Woodmere, NY) ... 8-15/-17 ... (#10 seed) ... 7th in '07, 4th in '08  
20. Jonathan Parker (Duke, Fr.; Austin, TX) ... 8-15/-20 ..... (#22 seed) ..... 
21. Nicholas Vomero (St. John's, Fr.; Centerport, NY) ... 7-16/-18 ..... (#20 seed) .....  
22. Dwight Smith (Columbia, Sr.; Elmont, NY) ... 7-16/-20 ..... (#13 seed) ..... 7th in '06, 4th in '07
23. Karl Harmenberg (Harvard, Jr.; Stockholm, Sweden) ... 6-17/-31 ..... (#17 seed)
24. Alex Cohen (Yale, Fr.; Chevy Chase, MD) ... 3-20/-55 ..... (#24 seed)

The full seven-round schedule for the NCAA Fencing Championship women's bouts is included below. First, a few notes:

• There are 25 fencers (one above the customary 24) in the women's foil field, meaning that one "travel group" has four fencers (group H, with two each from NYU and Columbia). Thus, groups G and H will be facing each other a bit early in Saturday's round-1 (9:40 a.m.), with the other round-1 matchups to start at 10:00. (More later on the 25 foilists issue). Sunday's bouting starts at 9:30, so it's possible round-5 that day for group-H vs. group-B may start a bit early.

• In round-1, each fencer faces her travel partners – plus fencers from another group (all other rounds are simply one group vs. another, in round-robin format).

• Three teams – Penn State (98), Ohio State (93) and Notre Dame (84) – remain in the running for the team title (ND faces a big challenge, but the Irish have several women's fencers who are capable of posting big win totals). Here are the showdown matchups (two-point swings in each bout) slated for Saturday, fittingly one in each round:

KEY SATURDAY MATCHUPS

Women's Foil: Penn State vs. Ohio State (round-2) ... Penn State vs. Notre Dame (round-3)

Women's Epee: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame (round-1)

Women's Sabre: Penn State vs. Notre Dame (round-2) ... Penn State vs. Ohio State (fround-4)

Note: CF360 will quickly post the results of these matchups (listed above), in addition to sending a text-message blast to those who have requested detailed reports.

WOMEN'S FOIL
ROUND-1

Group-A – Penn State's Doris Willette and Allison Glasser; Fairleigh Dickinson's Alyssa Lomuscio

vs.

Group B – Princeton's Lucille Jarry and Andrea Oliva; Penn's Laura Paragano 

Group C – Northwestern's Devynn Patterson and Samantha Nemecek; Stanford's Jessica Wacker

vs.

Group D – Notre Dame's Adi Nott and Hayley Reese; Temple's Melissa Parker  

Group E – Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer; UCSD's Pilar Alicea

vs.

Group F – Harvard's Emily Cross and Shelby MacLeod; Cornell's Jessica Tranquada

Group G – Yale's Valeria Makeeva and Katherine Pitt ; St John's Nora Szita  

vs.

Group-H – COL Abby Caparros-Janto & Nicole Ross; NYU's Sophie Ciaravino & Amanda Rysling

ROUND-2

Group-A – Penn State's Doris Willette and Allison Glasser; Fairleigh Dickinson's Alyssa Lomuscio

vs.

Group E – Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer; UCSD's Pilar Alicea

Group B – Princeton's Lucille Jarry and Andrea Oliva; Penn's Laura Paragano 

vs.

Group C – Northwestern's Devynn Patterson and Samantha Nemecek; Stanford's Jessica Wacker

Group D – Notre Dame's Adi Nott and Hayley Reese; Temple's Melissa Parker  

vs.

Group G – Yale's Valeria Makeeva and Katherine Pitt ; St John's Nora Szita  

Group F – Harvard's Emily Cross and Shelby MacLeod; Cornell's Jessica Tranquada

vs.

Group-H – COL Abby Caparros-Janto & Nicole Ross; NYU's Sophie Ciaravino & Amanda Rysling

ROUND-3

Group-A – Penn State's Doris Willette and Allison Glasser; Fairleigh Dickinson's Alyssa Lomuscio

vs.

Group D – Notre Dame's Adi Nott and Hayley Reese; Temple's Melissa Parker  

Group B – Princeton's Lucille Jarry and Andrea Oliva; Penn's Laura Paragano 

vs.

Group E – Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer; UCSD's Pilar Alicea

Group C – Northwestern's Devynn Patterson and Samantha Nemecek; Stanford's Jessica Wacker

vs.

Group-H – COL Abby Caparros-Janto & Nicole Ross; NYU's Sophie Ciaravino & Amanda Rysling

Group F – Harvard's Emily Cross and Shelby MacLeod; Cornell's Jessica Tranquada

vs.

Group G – Yale's Valeria Makeeva and Katherine Pitt ; St John's Nora Szita  

ROUND-4

vs.

Group-H – COL Abby Caparros-Janto & Nicole Ross; NYU's Sophie Ciaravino & Amanda Rysling

Group B – Princeton's Lucille Jarry and Andrea Oliva; Penn's Laura Paragano 

vs.

Group D – Notre Dame's Adi Nott and Hayley Reese; Temple's Melissa Parker  

Group C – Northwestern's Devynn Patterson and Samantha Nemecek; Stanford's Jessica Wacker

vs.

Group F – Harvard's Emily Cross and Shelby MacLeod; Cornell's Jessica Tranquada

Group E – Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer; UCSD's Pilar Alicea

vs.

Group G – Yale's Valeria Makeeva and Katherine Pitt ; St John's Nora Szita  

ROUND-5

vs.

Group F – Harvard's Emily Cross and Shelby MacLeod; Cornell's Jessica Tranquada

Group B – Princeton's Lucille Jarry and Andrea Oliva; Penn's Laura Paragano 

vs.

Group-H – COL Abby Caparros-Janto  & Nicole Ross; NYU's Sophie Ciaravino & Amanda Rysling

Group C – Northwestern's Devynn Patterson and Samantha Nemecek; Stanford's Jessica Wacker

vs.

Group G – Yale's Valeria Makeeva and Katherine Pitt ; St John's Nora Szita  

Group D – Notre Dame's Adi Nott and Hayley Reese; Temple's Melissa Parker  

vs.

Group E – Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer; UCSD's Pilar Alicea

ROUND-6

Group-A – Penn State's Doris Willette and Allison Glasser; Fairleigh Dickinson's Alyssa Lomuscio

vs.

Group G – Yale's Valeria Makeeva and Katherine Pitt ; St John's Nora Szita  

Group B – Princeton's Lucille Jarry and Andrea Oliva; Penn's Laura Paragano 

vs.

Group F – Harvard's Emily Cross and Shelby MacLeod; Cornell's Jessica Tranquada

Group C – Northwestern's Devynn Patterson and Samantha Nemecek; Stanford's Jessica Wacker

vs.

Group E – Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer; UCSD's Pilar Alicea

Group D – Notre Dame's Adi Nott and Hayley Reese; Temple's Melissa Parker  

vs.

Group-H – COL Abby Caparros-Janto & Nicole Ross; NYU's Sophie Ciaravino & Amanda Rysling

ROUND-7

Group-A – Penn State's Doris Willette and Allison Glasser; Fairleigh Dickinson's Alyssa Lomuscio

vs.

Group C – Northwestern's Devynn Patterson and Samantha Nemecek; Stanford's Jessica Wacker

Group B – Princeton's Lucille Jarry and Andrea Oliva; Penn's Laura Paragano 

vs.

Group G – Yale's Valeria Makeeva and Katherine Pitt ; St John's Nora Szita  

Group D – Notre Dame's Adi Nott and Hayley Reese; Temple's Melissa Parker  

vs.

Group F – Harvard's Emily Cross and Shelby MacLeod; Cornell's Jessica Tranquada

Group E – Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer; UCSD's Pilar Alicea

vs.

Group-H – COL Abby Caparros-Janto  & Nicole Ross; NYU's Sophie Ciaravino & Amanda Rysling

WOMEN'S EPEE (split teammates: Columbia and Harvard)

ROUND-1

Group-A – Notre Dame's Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley ; Yale's Rebecca Moss   

vs.

Group-B – Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova and Miriam Baranov; Stanford's Kersten Schnurle   

Group-C – Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan; Penn's Stephanie Wheeler   

vs.

Group-D – Northwestern's Christa French and Kayley French; Air Force's Simone Barrette   

Group-E – Cornell's Tasha Hall and Sallie Dietrech ; Columbia's Tess Finkel   

vs.

Group-F – PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Nina Westman; Columbia's Neely Brandfield-Harvey   

Group-G – SJU's Tanya Novakovska and Joanna Guy; Harvard's Noam Mills   

vs.

Group-H – Temple's Kristin Howell and Grace Wu; Harvard's Maria Larsson 

ROUND-2

Group-A – Notre Dame's Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley ; Yale's Rebecca Moss   

vs.

Group-E – Cornell's Tasha Hall and Sallie Dietrech ; Columbia's Tess Finkel   

Group-B – Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova and Miriam Baranov; Stanford's Kersten Schnurle   

vs.

Group-C – Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan; Penn's Stephanie Wheeler   

Group-D – Northwestern's Christa French and Kayley French; Air Force's Simone Barrette   

vs.

Group-G – SJU's Tanya Novakovska and Joanna Guy; Harvard's Noam Mills   

Group-F – PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Nina Westman; Columbia's Neely Brandfield-Harvey   

vs.

Group-H – Temple's Kristin Howell and Grace Wu; Harvard's Maria Larsson 

ROUND-3

Group-A – Notre Dame's Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley ; Yale's Rebecca Moss   

vs.

Group-D – Northwestern's Christa French and Kayley French; Air Force's Simone Barrette   

Group-B – Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova and Miriam Baranov; Stanford's Kersten Schnurle   

vs.

Group-E – Cornell's Tasha Hall and Sallie Dietrech ; Columbia's Tess Finkel   

Group-C – Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan; Penn's Stephanie Wheeler   

vs.

Group-H – Temple's Kristin Howell and Grace Wu; Harvard's Maria Larsson 

Group-F – PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Nina Westman; Columbia's Neely Brandfield-Harvey   

vs.

Group-G – SJU's Tanya Novakovska and Joanna Guy; Harvard's Noam Mills   

ROUND-4

Group-A – Notre Dame's Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley ; Yale's Rebecca Moss   

vs.

Group-H – Temple's Kristin Howell and Grace Wu; Harvard's Maria Larsson 

Group-B – Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova and Miriam Baranov; Stanford's Kersten Schnurle   

vs.

Group-D – Northwestern's Christa French and Kayley French; Air Force's Simone Barrette   

Group-C – Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan; Penn's Stephanie Wheeler   

vs.

Group-F – PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Nina Westman; Columbia's Neely Brandfield-Harvey   

Group-E – Cornell's Tasha Hall and Sallie Dietrech ; Columbia's Tess Finkel   

vs.

Group-G – SJU's Tanya Novakovska and Joanna Guy; Harvard's Noam Mills   

ROUND-5

Group-A – Notre Dame's Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley ; Yale's Rebecca Moss   

vs.

Group-F – PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Nina Westman; Columbia's Neely Brandfield-Harvey   

Group-B – Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova and Miriam Baranov; Stanford's Kersten Schnurle   

vs.

Group-H – Temple's Kristin Howell and Grace Wu; Harvard's Maria Larsson 

Group-C – Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan; Penn's Stephanie Wheeler   

vs.

Group-G – SJU's Tanya Novakovska and Joanna Guy; Harvard's Noam Mills   

Group-D – Northwestern's Christa French and Kayley French; Air Force's Simone Barrette   

vs.

Group-E – Cornell's Tasha Hall and Sallie Dietrech ; Columbia's Tess Finkel   

ROUND-6

Group-A – Notre Dame's Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley ; Yale's Rebecca Moss   

vs.

Group-G – SJU's Tanya Novakovska and Joanna Guy; Harvard's Noam Mills   

Group-B – Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova and Miriam Baranov; Stanford's Kersten Schnurle   

vs.

Group-F – PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Nina Westman; Columbia's Neely Brandfield-Harvey   

Group-C – Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan; Penn's Stephanie Wheeler   

vs.

Group-E – Cornell's Tasha Hall and Sallie Dietrech ; Columbia's Tess Finkel   

Group-D – Northwestern's Christa French and Kayley French; Air Force's Simone Barrette   

vs.

Group-H – Temple's Kristin Howell and Grace Wu; Harvard's Maria Larsson 

ROUND-7

Group-A – Notre Dame's Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley ; Yale's Rebecca Moss   

vs.

Group-C – Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan; Penn's Stephanie Wheeler   

Group-B – Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova and Miriam Baranov; Stanford's Kersten Schnurle   

vs.

Group-G – SJU's Tanya Novakovska and Joanna Guy; Harvard's Noam Mills   

Group-D – Northwestern's Christa French and Kayley French; Air Force's Simone Barrette   

vs.

Group-F – PSU's Anastasia Ferdman and Nina Westman; Columbia's Neely Brandfield-Harvey   

Group-E – Cornell's Tasha Hall and Sallie Dietrech ; Columbia's Tess Finkel   

vs.

Group-H – Temple's Kristin Howell and Grace Wu; Harvard's Maria Larsson 

WOMEN'S SABRE

ROUND-1

Group-A – Ohio State's Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller; MIT's Robin Shin  

vs.

Group-B – Temple's Audrey Barroso and Kamali Thompson ; UCSD's Alicia Trigeiro   

Group-C – Penn's Danielle Kamis  and  Dominika Franciskowicz ; Duke's Becca Ward   

vs.

Group-D – SJU's Dagmara Wozniak and Dora Varga; Brandeis' Anna Hanley   

Group-E – NYU's Alyxandra Mattison and Lisa Verzino; Cornell's Alex Heiss 

vs.

Group-F – Notre Dame's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett  ; Northwestern's Whitney White   

Group-G – Columbia's Daria Schneider  and Jackie Jacobson; Harvard's Caroline Vloka

vs.

Group-H – Penn State's Caity Thompson and Monica Aksamit ; Stanford's Eva Jellison 

ROUND-2

Group-A – Ohio State's Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller; MIT's Robin Shin  

vs.

Group-E – NYU's Alyxandra Mattison and Lisa Verzino; Cornell's Alex Heiss 

Group-B – Temple's Audrey Barroso and Kamali Thompson ; UCSD's Alicia Trigeiro   

vs.

Group-C – Penn's Danielle Kamis  and  Dominika Franciskowicz ; Duke's Becca Ward   

Group-D – SJU's Dagmara Wozniak and Dora Varga; Brandeis' Anna Hanley   

vs.

Group-G – Columbia's Daria Schneider  and Jackie Jacobson; Harvard's Caroline Vloka

Group-F – Notre Dame's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett  ; Northwestern's Whitney White   

vs.

Group-H – Penn State's Caity Thompson and Monica Aksamit ; Stanford's Eva Jellison 

ROUND-3

Group-A – Ohio State's Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller; MIT's Robin Shin  

vs.

Group-D – SJU's Dagmara Wozniak and Dora Varga; Brandeis' Anna Hanley   

Group-B – Temple's Audrey Barroso and Kamali Thompson ; UCSD's Alicia Trigeiro   

vs.

Group-E – NYU's Alyxandra Mattison and Lisa Verzino; Cornell's Alex Heiss 

Group-C – Penn's Danielle Kamis  and  Dominika Franciskowicz ; Duke's Becca Ward   

vs.

Group-H – Penn State's Caity Thompson and Monica Aksamit ; Stanford's Eva Jellison 

Group-F – Notre Dame's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett  ; Northwestern's Whitney White   

vs.

Group-G – Columbia's Daria Schneider  and Jackie Jacobson; Harvard's Caroline Vloka

ROUND-4

Group-A – Ohio State's Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller; MIT's Robin Shin  

vs.

Group-H – Penn State's Caity Thompson and Monica Aksamit ; Stanford's Eva Jellison 

Group-B – Temple's Audrey Barroso and Kamali Thompson ; UCSD's Alicia Trigeiro   

vs.

Group-D – SJU's Dagmara Wozniak and Dora Varga; Brandeis' Anna Hanley   

Group-C – Penn's Danielle Kamis  and  Dominika Franciskowicz ; Duke's Becca Ward   

vs.

Group-F – Notre Dame's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett  ; Northwestern's Whitney White   

Group-E – NYU's Alyxandra Mattison and Lisa Verzino; Cornell's Alex Heiss 

vs.

Group-G – Columbia's Daria Schneider  and Jackie Jacobson; Harvard's Caroline Vloka

ROUND-5

Group-A – Ohio State's Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller; MIT's Robin Shin  

vs.

Group-F – Notre Dame's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett  ; Northwestern's Whitney White   

Group-B – Temple's Audrey Barroso and Kamali Thompson ; UCSD's Alicia Trigeiro   

vs.

Group-H – Penn State's Caity Thompson and Monica Aksamit ; Stanford's Eva Jellison 

Group-C – Penn's Danielle Kamis  and  Dominika Franciskowicz ; Duke's Becca Ward   

vs.

Group-G – Columbia's Daria Schneider  and Jackie Jacobson; Harvard's Caroline Vloka

Group-D – SJU's Dagmara Wozniak and Dora Varga; Brandeis' Anna Hanley   

vs.

Group-E – NYU's Alyxandra Mattison and Lisa Verzino; Cornell's Alex Heiss 

ROUND-6

Group-A – Ohio State's Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller; MIT's 6obin Shin  

vs.

Group-G – Columbia's Daria Schneider  and Jackie Jacobson; Harvard's Caroline Vloka

Group-B – Temple's Audrey Barroso and Kamali Thompson ; UCSD's Alicia Trigeiro   

vs.

Group-F – Notre Dame's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett  ; Northwestern's Whitney White   

Group-C – Penn's Danielle Kamis  and  Dominika Franciskowicz ; Duke's Becca Ward   

vs.

Group-E – NYU's Alyxandra Mattison and Lisa Verzino; Cornell's Alex Heiss 

Group-D – SJU's Dagmara Wozniak and Dora Varga; Brandeis' Anna Hanley   

vs.

Group-H – Penn State's Caity Thompson and Monica Aksamit ; Stanford's Eva Jellison 

ROUND-7

Group-A – Ohio State's Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller; MIT's Robin Shin  

vs.

Group-C – Penn's Danielle Kamis  and  Dominika Franciskowicz ; Duke's Becca Ward   

Group-B – Temple's Audrey Barroso and Kamali Thompson ; UCSD's Alicia Trigeiro   

vs.

Group-G – Columbia's Daria Schneider  and Jackie Jacobson; Harvard's Caroline Vloka

Group-D – SJU's Dagmara Wozniak and Dora Varga; Brandeis' Anna Hanley   

vs.

Group-F – Notre Dame's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett  ; Northwestern's Whitney White   

Group-E – NYU's Alyxandra Mattison and Lisa Verzino; Cornell's Alex Heiss 

vs.

Group-H – Penn State's Caity Thompson and Monica Aksamit ; Stanford's Eva Jellison