St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
NCAA Championships
Evgeniya Kirpicheva Wins Women's Foil National Title
3/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
March 23, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - On the second day of NCAA Championship competition, the St. John's women collected two medals and had five of its six fencers receive All-American honors. The accomplishments helped the Red Storm jump one spot to move into a tie for fourth place with 81 points. With the men yet to compete, St. John's is just seven points behind the two first place schools - Ohio State and Princeton. Notre Dame - last year's national champions - is in third place with 82 points.
After going 17-6 in pool play to make the final four, junior foilist Evgeniya Kirpicheva won her first-ever national title and earned first team All-America honors. The Red Storm women's team captain then defeated Alina Antokhina of Penn State, 15-9, in the semifinals and Luana Wang of Pennsylvania, 15-8, in the finals. Kirpicheva was a bronze medalist and a first team All-American at the previous two NCAA Championships.
"I am very proud of Evgeniya," head coach Yury Gelman said. "She saw an opportunity and found a way to win. She was very determined and deserves this honor."
Evgeniya's squadmate, junior Irina Koroleva, went 15-8 and placed ninth. With her performance, Koroleva made the All-America third team, which is the third time she's received All-America honors in her career. With 32 total points, Koroleva and Kirpicheva had the highest score of any women's foil squad.
In women's saber, Anna Limbach capped off her fantastic sophomore campaign with a bronze medal and first team All-America honors. She went 16-6 in pool play to earn a spot in the women's saber final four. Her run in the NCAA Championships then came to an end after being defeated by Monica Aksamit of Penn State, 15-8, in the national semifinals. At last year's NCAA's, Limbach placed eighth and earned second team All-America honors.
Her partner, redshirt senior Martyna Wieczorek, went 10-12 in pool play and placed 12th to earn third team All-America honors for the third time in her career. Women's saber had 26 total points - the third-most of any school.
In women's epee, sophomore Alina Ferdman went 16-7 in pool play to place sixth and earn second team All-America honors. Her classmate, Zsofia Fath, went 7-16 and placed 19th. Women's epee contributed 23 total points - good for sixth-most.
The men's team will begin NCAA Championship action tomorrow, Saturday, March 24. The semifinals and finals will air on ESPN 3 on Sunday, March 25 at 1:45 p.m.
"The men have some ground to make up, but they are more than capable of doing it," Coach Gelman said.
For more information on St. John's fencing, log onto redstormsports.com or follow our official twitter account: @STJ_Fencing, using the hashtag: #stjfencing.
