Brandeis Judges rookies Jessica Morales ’23 and Maggie Shealy ’23 competed in the first of four Olympic Trial events this past weekend in Kansas City, MO. Points earned during this event and other international scoring events will help determine the 2020 Olympic team. 

Any individuals that compete at the Division I level in the three fencing events (sabre, foil and epee) have the opportunity to earn points towards a potential Olympics bid. 

Both Morales and Shealy competed in the Division I saber competition, making them part of a field of Olympic hopefuls. 

Morales (International Fencing Club/New England) competes internationally for Colombia and went 5-1 in pool play during the first part of the tournament. Her only loss was to Monica Aksamit (Metropolitan NYC/Manhattan FC). 

Morales ended up with wins against Charlotte Scalamoni-Goldstein (New Jersey/KUFA), Kathryn Kynett (Mountain Valley/Premier FA), Levi Hoogendoorn (Minnesota), Yi Lin Lu (Canada/San Bernardino/AFC) and Aleksandra Strzalkowski (Colorado/FaoDenver). 

In Shealy’s pool, she went 2-4 in pool play. Shealy had hard fought wins over Kara Lindee (Arizona/Notre Dame) and Catherine Kim (North Texas/GFA). She lost to Xinyan Chen (Georgia/Arsenal FC), Sarah Lacson (Orange Coast/Laguna FC), Mikaela Avakian (Southern California/West Coast FA) and Shreya Reddy (Mountain Valley/Premier FA). 

After pool play, Morales ranked 22nd in the field of 125 fencers, qualifying for the final bracket with an individual score of +10. Shealy also qualified for the bracket tournament with an individual score of -8, placing 93rd overall. 

In bracket play, Morales received a bye in the first round, guaranteeing her a place in the top 64. She beat Lola Possick (Long Island) to make it to the round of 32. Morales ultimately lost to 10th seed Honor Johnson (Southern California), good for a 20th place finish overall on the weekend. 

Shealy lost her first round match in the bracket to Ryan Kenkins (Orange Coast/Bergen FC) and placed 93rd overall.