NCAA Northeast Fencing Action Wraps at Wellesley
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College served as the host site for the 2014 NCAA Northeast Fencing Regional on Sunday at the Keohane Sports Center. The Blue welcomed over 270 fencers from 18 institutions to the day-long event.
St. John's led the way with three regional champions, taking men's foil and sabre, as well as women's foil. Harvard nabbed a pair top-finishers, winning women's sabre and epee, while Sacred Heart rounded out the regional winners by taking the men's epee crown.
Wellesley sent nine fencers to the event and was led by first-years Pamela Wang and Jessica Guo, who each advanced out of the initial pools. Wang nabbed four total wins on the day, finished 28th overall, eighth in Division III. Guo went undefeated in the first pool, and added a win in the second to rank 33rd, 11th in Division III.
Sophomore Charlotte Treadwell, senior Dania Wright, and junior Kathryn Ledbetter also recorded top-15 finishes among Division III competitors. Treadwell (epee) and Wright (sabre) each picked up a pair of wins, while Ledbetter (epee) also grabbed a victory for the Blue.
Also for the Blue, first-year sabre fencers Alice Xu and Jasmine Davis each recorded two wins, and finished the day ranked 16th and 17th in Division III. Wrapping up Wellesley's action, junior Camille Samulski (foil) and senior Courtney Collins (epee) ended their day ranked 17th and 19th in Division III.
In women's sabre, Harvard went 1-2, as rookie Adrienne Jarocki claimed top-honors and sophomore Aliya Itzkowitz finished second. Itzkowitz was seeded first headed into the final round, but Jarocki rattled off 11 straight wins to claim the title. Brown junior Christine Whalen finished in third, jumping from 21st to third, after winning her final six bouts.
In men's sabre, it was St. John's claiming two of the top three spots, as first-years Roman Sydorenko and Ferenc Valkai finished 1-2 for the Red Storm. Sydorenko went undefeated in the finals, while Valkai went 7-3 to seal runner-up honors. Harvard junior Alexander Ryjik rounded out the top-three, grabbing six wins in the finals.
Women's epee saw Harvard sophomore Isabel DiTella crowned as regional champion, while Cornell first-year Victoria Wines finished as runner-up. DiTella was seeded fourth heading into the event and used eight wins in the final 11 bouts to catapult to the top of the standings. Wines tallied seven wins in the finals, while Harvard sophomore Nina Van Loon recorded six wins in the finals to finish in third place.
Sacred Heart junior Jonathan Jacovino took home the men's epee title, followed by MIT senior Joseph Rafidi and Columbia sophomore Jake Hoyle. Jacovino, seeded 10th heading into the championships, dropped just five bouts all day to win the weapon. Rafidi's eight wins in the finals ranked him second, while Hoyle won six times in the final pool to earn third.
In women's foil, St. John's sophomore Marta Hausman took top honors, while Harvard senior Alexandra Kiefer finished second. Both fencers recorded eight wins in the final round, but Hausman nabbed the title after Kiefer withdrew from the tie-breaker due to medical reasons. Columbia first-year Jessie Laffey lept from 16th in the initial seedings to a third place finish. She recorded seven wins in the final round.
Rounding out the competition, St. John's Max Blitzer grabbed the men's foil title, while Harvard sophomore Michael Woo and junior Brian Kaneshige completed the top-three. Blitzer was ranked fifth heading into the finals, but went 9-1 to grab the championship. Woo picked up eight wins in the finals, while Kaneshige won six times to wrap up third.
The 2014 NCAA Fencing Championship will be held March 20-23 at Ohio State University. Qualified student-athletes from the Northeast region will be announced on Tuesday at ncaa.com.