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Guest Column: 2013 NCAA Women's Epee Projection, by Lydia Kopecky (Columbia '13)

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 09:10:10 -0500

Columbia senior epeeist Lydia Kopecky was gracious enough to provide us with her insight and projections on the 2013 NCAA women's epee field. Kopecky had a disappointing and sudden end to her own 2013 season, placing lower than expected at the Northeast Regional following a very strong season leading up to that point. The two-time All-American and there-time NCAA qualifier currently is 9th in the U.S. women's epee ranking and is a regular competitor at international tournaments.

(see CF360 front page for links to other 2013 NCAA guest columns)

By Lydia Kopecky (Columbia '13)

By far, the NCAA field for women's epee in 2013 is stronger than it hass been in years. With two Olympic medalists, three former NCAA individual champions, countless U.S. National Team members, and many foreign national team members, I predict the results of this weekend are going to come down to indicators (total points margin). Because of how strong the field is, I believe there won't be a decisive and predicable top four, but rather an extremely strong top-8 that is fighting for every touch. The pressure will be high and I think there will be some unpredictable 5-touch upsets from the beginning, making every future bout count if anyone will be in line for a title. I predict that all of the top-8 will be seasoned NCAA fencers and that experience will be key to success at this tournament.

Guest Column: 2013 NCAA Men's Foil Observations, by Reggie Bentley (Notre Dame '12)

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:03:22 -0500

By Reggie Bentley (Notre Dame '12) –

The fencers in the 2013 NCAA men’s foil event have the honor and misery of competing in what is probably the strongest NCAA men’s foil field ever assembled. This year’s competition includes three former NCAA individual champions, three Olympians, and numerous former team champions. Suffice it to say that it is very likely several former champions of the individual event may very well not make the final four (semifinals).

It therefore goes without saying that any predictions about this year’s results are difficult to make at best. We have some help, however, with the completion of one day of the competition — but there was no surprise Thursday about one fencer: Gerek Meinhardt. After an undefeated first day, Notre Dame’s finest came out first in the field, just ahead of freshman Michael Dudey of Princeton. Dudey is one of several freshmen to excel in the tournament this year, along with Meinhardt’s former teammate and fellow Olympian, Alexander Massialas (Stanford), who recorded 12 victories for his school.

Guest Column: 2013 NCAA Men's Sabre Projection, by Aleks Ochocki (Penn State '12)

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:47:41 -0500

We have a special treat leading into the 2013 NCAA Fencing Championship, as former Penn State great Aleks Ochoki has sent along his observations and predictions – penned during the long flight to Moscow (Russia, not Idaho), no less, for an upcoming World Cup. Ochocki won the NCAA sabre title in 2009, edging fellow freshman and 2012 U.S. Olympian Daryl Homer in a 15-14 classic, and he closed his career with a second title in 2012 (over former Harvard fencer Valentin Staller). Ochocki, who spent this season as an assistant coach at Steevns Tech, remains active at international competitions and currently is the 7th-ranked U.S. men's sabre fencer. …

2009 Men's-Sabre Final
Daryl Homer/StJ vs. Aleks Ochocki/PSU; photos+video hybrid, from CF360

__________________________________

My observations and predictions for the 2013 NCAA men's sabre competition
by Aleks Ochocki

The NCAA fencing championships is one of the rare collegiate championship where every competitor tests their skills against everyone in their field. The field is set and the regular season stats don't matter anymore, every point could decide each fencer's chances on the possibility to be crowned NCAA champion (and, in some cases, to help win the team title).

NCAA Combined Fencing Championship – 2013 Qualifiers

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:41:17 -0500

RELEASE: March 12, 2013
Contact: Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Only two teams – Notre Dame and Princeton – have received the maximum 12 indvidual qualifers for the upcoming NCAA Combined Men's and Women's Fencing Championship, to be held March 21-24 at Freeman Coliseum (near the AT&T Center) in San Antonio. A year ago, five teams received the maximum 12 entries but there still will be a high number of teams (8) that could be in the mix for the 2013 team title, as six have qualified 11 fencers for the 2013 championship: Columbia, Harvard, defending champion Ohio State, Penn State, St. John's and Stanford.

It is not unprecedented (but it is rare) for a team with 11 entrants to win the title over a team with the full 12. Most notably, it happened in 2005 when Notre Dame's 11-fencer contingent rallied to beat another 11-fencer team, Ohio State, in a 173-171 thriller that played out in Houston (St. John's had been the only team to qualify 12 but finished third, at 162).

The 2013 NCAA allotment marks the fewest teams with the full 12 entrants (2) since St. John's was the only 12-fencer team back in 2005. From 2006-12, there was an average of 3.7 teams per year with the full 12-fencer contingent at the NCAAs (five in 2010 and '12; four in '08; three in '06, '07, '09 and '11).

2013 NCAA Fencing Midwest Regional – Men's Entries

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 08:01:08 -0500

by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

• CLICK HERE for Midwest Regional women's entries

Fencers from the Midwest Region will compete in the final stage of qualification for the 2013 NCAA Fencing Championships (March 21-24, in San Antonio) during the 2013 NCAA Midwest Regional, to be held on Saturday & Sunday, March 9-10, at Notre Dame (starting 9 a.m. ET, in the Joyce Center's Castellan Family Fencing Center). The women's competition will be held on March 9 and the men on Sunday the 10th.

Here are the particulars:

• The Midwest Regional includes fencers from seven schools that sponsor varsity fencing teams, most notably top-10 nationally ranked teams from Notre Dame, Ohio State and Northwestern (women's team only) … along with Wayne State, Cleveland State, Detroit and Lawrence.

• Men's participants in the Midwest Regional are listed below (men's entries linked above). The entry lists below are grouped by weapon and sorted in "seeding order" (which is based on individual results during team dual-meet competition). Fencers among the top-30 "national seeds" also are noted in the listing below.

Women's Entries – 2013 NCAA Fencing Northeast Regional

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 05:53:49 -0500

by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

CLICK HERE for Northeast Regional men's entries

Fencers from the Northeast Region will compete in the final stage of qualification for the 2013 NCAA Fencing Championships (March 21-24, in San Antonio) during the 2013 NCAA Northeast Regional, to be held on Sunday, March 10, at St. John's (starting 9 a.m. ET, in Carnesecca Arena and Taffner Fieldhouse).

Here are the particulars:

• The Northeast Regional includes fencers from 18 schools that sponsor varsity fencing teams, most notably top-10 nationally ranked teams from St. John's, Columbia and Harvard … along with Boston College, Brandeis, Brown, Cornell (women only), Hunter, MIT, CCNY (women), NYU, Queens College (women), Sacred Heart, Tufts (women), Vassar, Wellesley (women), Yale and Yeshiva.

• Women's participants in the Northeast Regional are listed below (men's entries linked above), grouped by weapon and sorted in "seeding order" (which is based on individual results during team dual-meet competition). Fencers among the top-30 "national seeds" also are noted in the listing below.

2013 NCAA Fencing Northeast Regional – Men's Entries & Info.

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:32:18 -0500

by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

CLICK HERE for Northeast Regional women's entries

Here are the particulars:

• Men's participants in the Northeast Regional are listed below (women's entries to be linked above), grouped by weapon and sorted in "seeding order" (which is based on individual results during team dual-meet competition). Fencers among the top-30 "national seeds" also are noted in the listing below.

2013 NCAA Fencing West Regional – Entries & Info.

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 13:40:41 -0600

by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Fencers from the West Region will compete in the final stage of qualification for the 2013 NCAA Fencing Championships (March 21-24, in San Antonio) during the 2013 NCAA West Regional, to be held on Saturday, March 9-at UC San Diego.

Here are the particulars:

• The West Regional in 2013 will include fencers from nationally-ranked Stanford, plus UC San Diego and Air Force (Cal Tech is ineligible for 2013 NCAA competition.

• Participants in the West Regional are listed below.. The entry lists below are grouped by weapon and sorted in "seeding order" (which is based on individual results during team dual-meet competition). Fencers among the top-30 "national seeds" also are noted in the listing below.

• Each team can have a maximum of 12 men's competitors and 12 women at each Regional (distributed in any combination among the three weapon groups). For example, Penn State is very deep at men's foil and is bringing five competitors in that weapon … but could have brought even more, as senior Daniel Gomez is not among the PSU competitors (he would have been the #5 overall men's foil seed at the M-A/S Regional, with three of his teammates among the top-4).

NCAA Fencing Midwest Regional – 2013 Women's Entries

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 03:07:53 -0600

by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

• CLICK HERE for Midwest Regional men's entries

Here are the particulars:

• Women's participants in the Midwest Regional are listed below (men's entries linked above). The entry lists below are grouped by weapon and sorted in "seeding order" (which is based on individual results during team dual-meet competition). Fencers among the top-30 "national seeds" also are noted in the listing below.

2013 NCAA Fencing Mid-Atlantic/South Regional – Women's Entries & Info.

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 02:28:49 -0600

by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

CLICK HERE for Mid-Atlantic/South men's entries

Fencers from the Mid-Atlantic/South Region will compete in the final stage of qualification for the 2013 NCAA Fencing Championships (March 21-24, in San Antonio) during the 2013 NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional, to be held on Saturday, March 9, at Lafayette College (starting 8 a.m. ET, in Kamine Gymnasium).

Here are the particulars:

• The Mid-Atlantic/South Regional includes fencers from 13 schools that sponsor varsity fencing teams, most notably top-10 nationally ranked teams from Princeton, Penn State, the University of Pennsylvania, Duke and Temple (women's team only) … along with Drew, Fairleigh Dickinson (women's team), Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Lafayette, N.J.I.T., North Carolina, and Stevens Tech.

• Women's participants in the M-A/S Regional are listed below (link to men's entries included above), grouped by weapon and sorted in "seeding order" (which is based on individual results during team dual-meet competition). Fencers among the top-30 "national seeds" also are noted in the listing below.

NCAA Fencing 2013 Mid-Atlantic/South Regional – Men's Entries & Tournament Info.

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:13:15 -0600

by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

CLICK HERE for Mid-Atlantic/South women's entries

Here are the particulars:

• Men's participants in the M-A/S Regional are listed below (women's entries linked above), grouped by weapon and sorted in "seeding order" (which is based on individual results during team dual-meet competition). Fencers among the top-30 "national seeds" also are noted in the listing below.

2013 NYU Invitational Final Results & Stats

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:45:23 -0600

Previous NYU Invitational Pages – 2012 men & women | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 (courtesy CF360)

Jan. 28, 2013 Contact: Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

A long weekend of fencing in New York City concluded for several teams, most notably the squads from Ohio State, Notre Dame, St. John's and Columbia – each of which competed at both the St. John's Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 26) and Sunday's crosstown NYU Invitational. CF360's customary rundown of the results, plus weapon-group breakdowns, is included at the bottom of this page, while previous CF360 recap pages from the annual NYU Invitational are included above.

Sunday's bouting at NYU extended several trends from the previous day in the Bronx – namely continued excellence from the 2nd-ranked Notre Dame women and the #3 Columbia women's squad. The ND women followed up a 5-0 showing at St. John's by going 4-1 at NYU, with the only loss being a 14-13 battle against Columbia (which was 3-2 at StJ, then 5-0 at NYU). Over the course of the two days, the Notre Dame women were 9-1 while winning 82 more bouts than they lost. Columbia's women had an 8-2 overall weekend, going +30 in bouts won over the two days.

2013 St. John's Invitational Final Results & Stats

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:17:17 -0600

Previous StJ Invitational Pages – 2012 men & women | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 (courtesy CF360)

Jan. 27, 2013 Contact: Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Longtime foes and perennial national contenders Penn State and Notre Dame ruled the day at the St. John's Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 26, with each of those fencing programs posting matching overall marks with an 8-2 combined record (men and women) and identical +30 margins of bouts won. The #2-ranked Penn State men swept the elite field (5-0, +35), as did the #2 Notre Dame women (5-0, +25). Complete team results and additional team/weapon group stats included at the bottom of this page.

(Notes – an in-depth look at key matchups, individual leaders, etc., from the 2013 St. Johns Invitational also will be posted later this week and linked to this page. Previous CF360 recap pages from the annual StJ tournament are included above.)

Host St. John's – despite competing with only two men's sabre fencers (the #5 Red Storm men forfeited three bouts in each match) – had a strong showing on the men's side, going 4-1 with the only loss coming 15-12 vs. Penn State. The men's standings ended with an evenly staggered flow (one team with five wins, one with four, etc.) but the women's competition was bunched in the middle – as three tams (#5 Penn State, #3 Columbia and #6 St. John's) all went 3-2 while #4 Ohio State was 2-3. All three women's teams that were 3-2 finished 65-70 in bouts won while the 2-3 Ohio State women actually had a higher bouts-won margin (+5, 70-65) than those other three teams, due to losing 14-13 vs. Notre Dame and 15-12 vs. both Columbia and St. John's (the OSU women 16-11 vs. PSU).

Quick Video Links ...

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 22:34:55 -0500

QUICK VIDEO LINKS (cf360 exclusive video excerpts from 2011 & 2012)

• Marat Israelian (St. John's epee; from 2011 NCAAs)
• Marty Williams (Sacred Heart sabre; from 2011 NCAAs)
• Enzo Castellani & Reggie Bentley (Notre Dame foil; from 2012 Air Force Duals)
• Jon Yergler – part-1 & part-2 (Princeton; epee from 2011 NCAAs)
• James Kaull (Notre Dame epee; from 2012 Air Force Duals)
• Turner Caldwell (Stanford foil; from 2011 NCAA West Regional)
• Aleksander Ochocki ... blast from the past, after Aleks won the 2009 NCAA men's sabre title as a freshman (and one of the first CF360 videos filed, along with PSU foilist Nick Chinman, shortly after the site launched back in '09)

• Becca Ward – part-1 & part-2 (Duke sabre; from 2011 NCAAs)
• Dayana Sarkisova (Northwestern foil; from 2012 Air Force Duals)

note – allow for initial download before starting play function

2012 NCAA Fencing – Day-1 Bouting Schedule (courtesy CF360)

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:22:19 -0500

Here's the rundown of Thursday's bouting schedule, as the 2012 NCAA Fencing Championships opens up with four rounds of women's competition in each weapon (14 bouts per fencer, with nine more for each competitor on Friday to complete the round-robin ... followed by semifinals and title bouts in each weapon; medal round does not count to team score). Teams receive one point for every individual win in the round-robin.

One subtle – but often important – factor is when teammates have to be split into different "travel groups" (there are eight groups of three, in each weapon). Here are the teammates who will not have the benefit of fencing alongside each other:

• St. John's women's foil
• Duke women's epee
• Columbia women's epee

Among the five teams that qualified the maximum 12 fencers, St. John's is the only one that has one of its women's weapon groups split – and that could prove to be a detriment, as StJ juniors Irina Koroleva and Evgeniya Kirpicheva (both natives of Russia) won't have the benefit of each other's insight, support, etc.

NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional – 2012 Women's Sabre Results (courtesy CF360)

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:34:26 -0500

By Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Notes – Qualification for the 2012 NCAA Championships (March 22-25, at Ohio State) was based on a formula combination of Fencer Seed Factor/FSF (40%; from regular-season dual meets) and Regional finish (60%). The Mid-Atlantic/South Region has seven automatic berths to the 2012 NCAA Championships in women's sabre. There is a maximum of two entries per school in each weapon. NCAA bids became official on March 13. In some cases, coaches had an option in selecting which fencers would comprise their entries in the NCAAs (if additional fencers meet the qualification standard). There also were two NCAA at-large spots in each weapon, open to fencers from any region (again, as long as team already has not qualified two in the particular weapon) ... details below.

Other 2012 NCAA Regional wrapup pages (courtesy CF360):
WEST WOMEN ... WEST MEN ... MIDWEST WOMEN

Four-time Mid-Atlantic/South Regional
women's sabre champion Beccaa Ward (right)

Here's an overview of the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional women's sabre competition, held at Lafayette. The format featured four rounds of pools, with the field trimmed after each of the first three rounds (to 24, 18 and 12) before the final marathon pool-of-12. Data below indicates Regional finish (W-L/total-points indicator), seed entering regional, basic bio. info. (class year and hometown), past finishes in Regional and NCAA Championship events, eventual NCAA qualifiers, key bouts, and brief analysis.

NCAA Midwest Regional – 2012 Women's Fencing Results (courtesy CF360)

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:26:32 -0500

CLICK HERE for CF360 exclusive video interview with Northwestern All-America foilist Dayana Sarkisova (pict. below)

By Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Notes – Qualification for the 2012 NCAA Championships (March 22-25, at Ohio State) is based on a formula combination of Fencer Seed Factor/FSF (40%; from regular-season dual meets) and Regional finish (60%). The Midwest Region has five automatic berths to the 2012 NCAA Championships in every weapon except women's sabre (4). There is a maximum of two entries per school in each weapon. NCAA bids became official on March 13. In some cases, coaches had an option in selecting which fencers would comprise their entries in the NCAAs (if additional fencers meet the qualification standard). There also were two NCAA at-large spots in each weapon, open to fencers from any region (again, as long as team already has not qualified two in the particular weapon) ... Notre Dame earned two women's at-large spots, in epee and sabre, while Northwestern secured one of the women's foil at-large spots (details below).

2012 NCAA Fencing Championship Qualifiers

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:29:10 -0500

RELEASE: March 13, 2012 Contact: Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Five teams – Harvard, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Princeton and St John's – have received the maximum 12 indvidual qualifers for the upcoming NCAA Combined Men's and Women's Fencing Champinship, to be held March 22-25 at Ohio State's French Fieldhouse and Saint John's Arena. Penn State (11) and the University of Pennsylvania (10) round out the seven schools that produced double-digit qualifiers, followed by Stanford (9), Columbia (8) and 16 other teams that complete the 144-fencer field (24 each in men's foil, men's epee, men's sabre, women's foil, women's epee and women's sabre).

Scroll to bottom of page for full qualifier lists, sorted by weapon.

(Note – this page is very text-heavy ... we will be adding some headshots and action photos ... plenty more pre-NCAA coverage coming from CF360).

2012 NCAA Fencing Championship Entrants (sorted by school)
12 – Harvard, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Princeton and St. John's
11 – Penn State
10 – Penn
9 – Stanford
8 – Columbia
6 – Brown and Duke
5 – Northwestern
4 – Temple and Yale
3 – Air Force, Sacred Heart and Wayne State
2 – Boston College, Cornell, North Carolina and UC San Diego
1 – Brandeis, MIT, NYU and Vassar

2012 NCAA West Regional – Women's Fencing Results (courtesy CF360)

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:45:44 -0500

By Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Notes – Qualification for the 2012 NCAA Championships (March 22-25, at Ohio State) is based on a formula combination of Fencer Seed Factor/FSF (40%; from regular-season dual meets) and Regional finish (60%). The West Region has two automatic berths to the 2012 NCAA Championships in every weapon except men's epee (3). There is a maximum of two entries per school in each weapon. NCAA bids become official on March 13. In some cases, coaches have an option in selecting which fencers will comprise their entries in the NCAAs (if additional fencers meet the qualification standard). There also are two NCAA at-large spots in each weapon, open to fencers from any region (again, as long as team already has not qualified two in the particular weapon).

Stanford senior Rebecca Chung (right) fenced primarily foil
during the past two seasons (pictured), but she switched to epee
this season and now has a strong chance at making the 2012 NCAAs
(after beating teammate Ashley Titan in fence-off to win West Regional).

NCAA West Regional – 2012 Men's Fencing Results (courtesy CF360)

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:52:05 -0500

By Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Notes – Qualification for the 2012 NCAA Championships (March 22-25, at Ohio State) is based on a formula combination of Fencer Seed Factor/FSF (40%; from regular-season dual meets) and Regional finish (60%). The West Region has two automatic berths to the 2012 NCAA Championships in every weapon except men's epee (3). There is a maximum of two entries per school in each weapon. NCAA bids become official on March 13. In some cases, coaches have an option in selecting which fencers will comprise their entries in the NCAAs (if additional fencers meet the qualification standard). There also are two NCAA at-large spots in each weapon, open to fencers from any region (again, as long as team already has not qualified two in the particular weapon).

Stanford junior men's epeeist Kian Ameli (right)

CLICK HERE for 2012 West Regional WOMEN'S recap (men's below)

Here's an overview of the NCAA West Regional fencing competition, held at Stanford. The format was a full round-robin (one pool, ranging from 9-13 fencers per weapon). Data below indicates Regional finish (W-L/total-points indicator), seed entering regional, basic bio. info. (class year and hometown), past finishes in Regional and NCAA Championship events, probable NCAA qualifiers, key bouts, and brief analysis (more headshot and action photos may be added, as available).