Fencing

For the last time this season, Northwestern stepped on the strip this past weekend in Virginia at the 2018 U.S. Fencing Division I National Championships.

Three Wildcats finished in the top-32 of their events and earned national points at the competition, with another finishing in the top-40.

“This is probably the best showing we have had at a Division I championships since I have been here,” coach Zach Moss said.

For the second straight year, sophomore epee Pauline Hamilton was the highest-placing NU fencer at the tournament. After finishing in 25th last spring, Hamilton finished in 14th this year, going 3-3 in pool play and winning two elimination bouts.

Sophomore foil Amy Jia said Hamilton started off slow and was not at her best when the day began, but her ability to still achieve a solid result illustrates her toughness.

“I respect her a lot,” Jia said. “She can always pull some miraculous results even if she is off to a rough start. She is very resilient.”

Freshman saber Alexis Browne and junior epee Ella Lombard were the two other fencers to finish in the top-32. Browne went 3-3 in pool play and finished in 29rd place in the Division I saber event. Lombard went 3-2 in pool play and finished in 23rd place in the Division I epee event, her first top-32 finish in a Division I event.

The highlight of the weekend for the Cats, according to Moss, was Jia’s victory over No. 4 seed and two-time Olympian Nzingha Prescod in pool play. Jia defeated Prescod 5-4.

“It was a very good bout and she did a really good job,” Moss said. “I would say that was definitely a highlight.”

The defeat was Prescod’s only loss of the whole competition, as she went on to win the Division I Foil title. Jia finished 5-1 in pool play and finished in 33rd place.

For Jia, who said she was feeling under the weather the night before, beating the Olympian was “delightful.” The sophomore said she has looked up to Prescod for years.

“I remember going to a tournament years ago in Shanghai and witnessing her close an eight-point gap and having it be one of the most exhilarating moments that I’ve witnessed in fencing,” Jia said. “Being able to fence her and beat her was incredible.”

Jia’s foil teammates, junior Sharon Chen and sophomore Alexandra Banin, in addition to freshman epee Anya Harkness, struggled at the event. All three failed to qualify for the elimination round.

In her final event as an NU fencer, senior epee Katie Van Riper finished in 53rd place. She won a bout in pool play before she was bounced in the first round of the elimination tournament.

The championships marked the official end of the Cats’ historic season. NU won a school-record 47 matches, claimed the Midwest Fencing Conference title and had three fencers named All-American.

“I think for the team as a whole it is a really promising overall result,” Moss said. “It displays how their investment and dedication has made everybody better and improved our team results.”

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