St. John's University Athletics
StormTracker All-Access: Homer, Israelian Recap National Championships
3/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
March 30, 2011
• Watch Daryl Homer's Interview
• Watch Marat Israelian's Interview
QUEENS, N.Y. - RedStormSports.com's Ralph Bednarczyk caught up with St. John's fencers Daryl Homer and Marat Israelian on Wednesday, less than a week after the pair captured their second-straight National Championships at the 2011 NCAA Fencing Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
Homer won the men's saber national championship after finishing 19-3 in round-robin competition to earn the first seed in the semi-final round. In the semi-finals, he out-touched Evan Prochniak of Pennsylvania, 15-7, before defeating Avery Zuck of Notre Dame, 15-14.
In the men's epee, Israelian also earned the first seed in the semi-final round. He finished round-robin competition with a record of 16-7 and defeated Yale's Peter Cohen, 15-4 and Princeton's Jonathan Yergler, 15-10, to capture the championship.
During their interviews on StormTracker All-Access, the duo recapped their paths to the national championships and discussed their fencing futures. Homer will begin qualifying competition for the 2012 Olympic Games in April, while Israelian will get to work defending his national championship.
As a team, the Red Storm finished third overall at the 2011 National Championships. STJ has finished sixth or better at the national championships in each year since 1993. In team competition, St. John's has one national championship (2001) and five second-place finishes (1995, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2010). In total, St. John's has now won 17 individual NCAA titles under head coach Yury Gelman, more than any other school during that time. Gelman has also led STJ fencers to All-America status more than 100 times.
