St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
NCAA Championships
St. John's Finishes Fourth At 2012 NCAA Championships
3/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
March 26, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The 2012 NCAA Championships concluded on Sunday with the men's semifinals and finals. For the first time since 2009, the men's team did not produce an individual national champion, but as a unit they produced the third most points of any men's squad.
At the NCAA Champions, men's and women's results are combined to establish a national champion. For the third time since men and women began competing together, Ohio State was crowned national champion. The Buckeyes finished with 182 points - 21 points higher than second place Princeton (161 points).
Just three points separated the second, third, and fourth place spots. St. John's placed fourth with 158 points and extended its streak of finishing sixth or better at the NCAA Championships to 20 years.
Notre Dame - last year's national champions - placed third with 160 points. There were 25 school competing at this year's NCAAs.
With junior Evgeniya Kirpicheva's championship in women's foil on Saturday, St. John's achieved its 20th individual national champion in program history. 18 of which have come after head coach Yury Gelman's arrival in 1995.
St. John's also produced 10 total All-Americans at this year's NCAA Championships - two first-team All-Americans, two second-teamers, and six third-teamers. In Coach Gelman's tenure, he has produced over 100 All-Americans.
MEN'S RESULTS
The highest men's finish belonged to senior Nicholas Vomero, who placed fifth with a 15-8 record, earning second-team All-America honors in the process. In his four-year career at St. John's, Vomero received All-America honors in three of them.
Vomero's partner, two-time individual NCAA Champion, senior Marat Israelian, also closed out his St. John's career with All-America honors. Israelian went 12-11 to place 11th and earn third-team All-America honors. The men's epee squad had 27 total points -the third-most at the NCAAs and more than any other St. John's men's squad.
The men's saber squad, which consisted of senior Alejandro Rojas and junior Sean Buckley combined for 26 total points - good for fourth-best. Rojas and Buckley both went 13-10 to receive third-team All-America honors, but Rojas defeated Buckley 5-2 in pool play to earn a tiebreaker. Therefore, Rojas placed 9th and Buckley placed 10th.
After qualifying for the 2011 NCAAs as a freshman, sophomore foilist Eli Schenkel improved upon last year's results by going 14-9 and placing ninth, earning third-team All-America honors for the first time. His classmate, sophomore Max Blitzer, went 10-13 and placed 14th in his first-ever NCAA Championships appearance. Men's foil combined for 24 points, which tied for fifth-most.
WOMEN'S WRAP-UP
Foil
Evgeniya Kirpicheva: 1st place, 17-6, national champion, first-team All-American
Irina Koroleva: 9th place, 15-8, third-team All-American
Epee
Alina Ferdman: 6th place, 16-7, second-team All-American
Zsofia Fath: 19th place, 7-16
Saber
Anna Limbach: 3rd place, 16-6, first-team All-American
Martyna Wieczorek: 12th place, 10-12, third-team All-American
Players Mentioned
