St. John's University Athletics
St. Johns Fencing Wins National Championship
3/25/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
On Sunday afternoon at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Gelmans team proclaimed itself as the best in the country, capturing the NCAA Championship during the second round of womens epee competition. The Red Storm led by eight points entering Sundays final round and won six bouts during the first two rounds of competition in the morning, clinching the team championship and ending Penn States six-year run as national champs.
The national championship is the first ever for the St. Johns fencing program, and the Universitys second, including the mens soccer 1996 NCAA Championship win.
Its a great feeling, Gelman said. It certainly wasnt easy and we had to work very hard to get here, but its worth it. Weve worked hard for five years and to win it is unbelievable.
The NCAA Champion is crowned using combined scoring from individual events in each of the weapons (foil, epee and sabre) on the mens and womens side. Each competitor took part in a round-robin and the top four advanced to compete in single elimination play.
The Red Storm had led the field of 29 teams by 14 points after the completion of the mens competition on Friday, but saw the lead shrink to eight points after Saturdays third round when the womens competition began.
The women didnt fence very well on Saturday, Gelman said, but they came back and did an excellent job today. This was a total team effort and every fencer was a part of this win.
The Red Storm won two gold medals, had three student-athletes take silvers and two more finish in fourth place.
On Sunday, sophomores Emese Takacs (Budapest, Hungary/II R.F. Budapest) and Arlene Stevens (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) led the way for the Red Storm. Takacs defeated Stevens for the gold medal in the womens epee, with Stevens taking the silver. Junior Marisa Mustilli (South Orange, N.J./Columbia), who finished in fourth place in the qualifying rounds, led a strong charge in the sabre, earning the silver medal. Sophomore Liz Thottam (Beverly Hills, Calif./Beverly Hills), meanwhile, finished in 10th place in the womens foil.
In mens competition, sophomore Ivan Lee (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) won the gold medal in the mens sabre, defeating senior teammate Keeth Smart (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech). Smart, a two-time NCAA Champion in the event and a member of last years United States Olympic Team, earned the silver medal.
Other top finishers for St. Johns included senior Alex Roytblat (Ashdod, Israel/Ort Oleysky), who finished in fourth place in the mens epee, junior Doron Levit (Jerusalem, Israel/Kalai), who took 11th in the epee and sophomore Joe Fisher (Mishawaka, Ind./Penn), who took fourth place in the mens foil.
