Since our last publication, the fencers have been busy representing the Judges among the best fencing teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). They have since competed in the National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association (NIWFA) Championships at Dew University as well as the NCAA Regional Championships at Tufts University. 

First, at the National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association (NIWFA) Championships, the women’s fencing team saw Hannah Du ’26 earn silver while two other Judges took home second-team honors. Overall, the Judges placed fifth in team standings. 

For the Judges, the foil and epee squads finished fourth place, while the saber squad placed sixth. 

Individually, Du ’26 led the Judges with her epic performance in the foil. She went on to beat the 14th, 11th and second-seeded fencers before suffering to the first seeded fencer from Temple. Du’s win against the second-seeded fencer from Tufts was an exciting moment for the women’s fencing team to celebrate. 

Additionally, Kat Xikes ’26 earned the top overall seed in the direct elimination tournament, but was unfortunately upset in the quarterfinals by Temple’s ninth-seeded athlete. After her bouts, Xikes placed fifth overall in saber action. 

In the epee tournament, Vera Witte ’27 was seeded 13th after going 7-7 in the team competition but was able to make it to the quarter finals and ended up earning eighth place in the epee action for the Judges. 

The following week, the Judges were in Medford, Massachusetts to compete in the NCAA Regional Tournament, the competition that determines who gets to move on to compete in the NCAA National Tournament where the National Champions will be crowned. The Judges take a lot of pride in that competition as their very own Maggie Shealy (GRAD) was the women’s saber national champion last season. 

In the NCAA Regional Tournament, the Judges were paced by Lev BenAvram ’26 who has already gone to nationals twice and was seeded third going into Regionals. He placed 11th at Regionals while his teammate Tony Escueta ’25 placed 12th. After the selections of the NCAA tournament competitors this past Tuesday, BenAvram was chosen to compete at Nationals while Escueta was not, which was likely a very heartbreaking end to Escueta’s fencing career as a Judge. 

For the men, Michael Yerokhin ’26 made it to the semi finals in the men’s foil competition which allowed him to earn a 15th place standing after his bouts. 

In addition to those who paced the men’s fencers, Jack Sullivan ’28 placed 22nd in the men’s foil competition while Mark Shamis ’25 placed 26th in the men’s epee competition. 

On the women’s side of things, Kayla Turnof ’25 had a good day, placing 18th by making it to the semi finals in the women’s saber competition. Additionally, Livvy Oliveria ’27 placed 28th in the women’s foil tournament and Bronwyn Rothman-Hall ’25 placed 43rd in the women’s epee competition. 

Looking ahead, BenAvram will move on to compete in the NCAA Nationals Tournament in the men’s saber.