St. John's University Athletics
Fencing Qualifies The Maximum Of 12 For NCAA Championships
3/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
March 14, 2012
- Updated 2011-12 Statistics
- Northeast Regionals Recap
- Full Field of 144 and Official NCAA Press Release
QUEENS, N.Y. - After claiming three of the six weapons titles in the Northeast Regionals on Sunday, March 11, St. John's learned that it qualified the maximum of 12 fencers for the NCAA Championships. 144 total fencers will compete at the NCAAs, which begin on March 22 and culminate on March 25. Ohio State will host the championships at the French Field House and the St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. ESPN 3 will stream the semifinals and finals live on March 25.
The maximum number of athletes a school can qualify for NCAA Championships is 12 (two for each weapon). Qualification is based on Regionals and regular season performance. The Red Storm is just one of five schools (Harvard, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Princeton are the others) to qualify the max.
Fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four finishers will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the losers being awarded a tie for third place. Absolute ties for the seeding will be broken as follows: for positions one through three, by a coin toss; for position four, by a fence-off.
An institution's finish in the championships will be based on points earned by each individual. A team will be awarded one point for each victory by its student-athletes for the duration of the championships.
WHO QUALIFIED?
Men's Epee
Seniors Marat Israelian and Nicholas Vomero will represent the Red Storm in men's epee for the third straight year. Israelian, winner of the past two men's national titles, has a record of 47-23 this year and serves as the captain of the men's team. Vomero, a two-time All-American, is 49-20 on the season.
Men's Foil
Sophomores Eli Schenkel and Max Blitzer posted 50-plus win seasons and placed second and third, respectively, at Regionals to qualify for the NCAAs. Their classmate, Wilfred Curioso placed first, but did not qualify for the NCAA Championships, which only illustrates the strength of the all-sophomore foil quad. Schenkel, who has NCAA experience, finished 13th at last year's Championships.
Men's Saber
Junior Sean Buckley and Senior Alejandro Rojas will compete together at the NCAA Tournament for the first time. For the past two years, Buckley, a two-time All-American, competed alongside senior Daryl Homer, who is redshirting this season while preparing for the Olympics. Both Buckley and Rojas have won 55-plus bouts this season.
Women's Epee
Sophomores Alina Ferdman and Zsofia Fath will represent the strongest St. John's squad at the NCAA Championships. The women's epee squad outscored its opponents 16 times in 20 matches during the regular season - a team-best. Ferdman led the squad with 63 wins this season, Fath finished second with 55 wins, and freshman Isis Washington, who will not compete at NCAAs, finished third with 51 wins. At last year's championships, Ferdman and Fath finished 13th and 16th, respectively.
Women's Foil
Russian juniors Evgeniya Kirpicheva and Irina Koroleva will represent women's foil. Kirpicheva, who serves as the women's team captain, leads the entire St. John's team in wins this year with 69. She is making her third consecutive NCAA appearance after winning bronze in 2010 and 2011. Koroleva, a two-time All-American, is also making her third appearance.
Women's Saber
Sophomore Anna Limbach will be joined by redshirt senior Martyna Wieczorek, who is making her first NCAA appearance since 2010. Wieczorek, a two-time All-American, sat out last season, but made a comeback for 2012. Limbach, who earned All-America honors as a freshman last year, has a 63-9 record this year.
As a team, St. John's has one national championship (2001) and five second-place finishes (1995, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2010). In total, St. John's has won 19 individual NCAA titles and Head Coach Yury Gelman has led Red Storm fencers to All-America status more than 100 times.
For more information on St. John's fencing, log onto redstormsports.com or follow our official twitter account: @STJ_Fencing, using the hashtag: #stjfencing.
Players Mentioned
