St. John's University Athletics
Washington Places Fifth At USA Fencing National Championships
7/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
QUEENS, N.Y. - Recent St. John's alum Isis Washington along with three current Red Storm fencers competed this week at the USA Fencing National Championships in San Jose, Calif. Seeded 28th coming into the competition, Washington placed fifth overall in Division I women's epee.
Washington, the 2015 NCAA women's epee national champion, posted a perfect 6-0 record in pool play, which was the best record in her pool. After pool play, Washington was seeded third out of 59 fencers that advanced to the next round. Washington received a bye in the first round, but then went on to defeat Emma Von Dadelszen, 15-12, to reach the Table of 16. Washington would then meet the No. 19 seed Victoria Mo. Mo defeated Washington, 15-11 to get the victory and she went on to finish first overall to win the national title. Washington then went on to defeat Rebecca Chimahusky (15-9), and Giana Vierheller (15-11) to finish fifth overall.
Joining Washington were redshirt sophomore Margaret McDonald-Smith, freshmen Caira Moreira-Brown and Sean White.
McDonald-Smith recorded a top-10 finish in Division I women's saber after being seeded 36th overall. McDonald-Smith went 3-3 in pool play and was seeded 26th heading to the Table of 64. The Atlanta, Ga., native got on track and won three consecutive bouts to reach the Table of eight. She would then fall to No. 2 seed Sage Palmedo, who went to win the national championship.
Moreira-Brown finished with a 3-3 record in pool play in junior women's epee and was seeded 53rd out of 104 fencers that advanced to the next round. Moreira-Brown defeated Kaitlyn Gill, 15-10, and Alexandria Micek, 15-12, to advance to the Table of 32. The freshman would finish 30th overall after a losing a close bout to No. 21 seed Jessica Thow, 15-13, who finished seventh.
White, who went 3-2 in pool play in junior men's epee, was seeded 68th out of 141 competitors that advanced to the next round. White received a bye in the first round before defeating Darius Zacharakis 12-11 in the Table of 128. In the Table of 64, the Virginia native would face No. 5 seed Stefan Popovici in a close bout. Popovici narrowly defeated White, 15-14, to advance. White finished 53rd overall, while Popovici went on to finish ninth.
However, White pulled double duty this week as he also competed in the Division I men's epee. He put together a better performance as the freshman finished 12th overall after being seeded 61st coming into the competiion.
Players Mentioned
