Fencing finishes season at NCAA Regionals

The men’s and women’s fencing teams wrapped up their seasons on Saturday, competing in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional Championship hosted by Drew University. 

The event featured competitors from 14 different schools in the region. 16 fencers qualified for the event, five more than the team managed last year. To qualify, fencers are required to hold at least a 25% win rate across a minimum of 21 regular-season bouts.

“We had a lot of freshmen go, which is super good for us as a team to show that the program’s growing,” senior foil Anna Silver said. 

The women’s team was led by senior épée Zoe O’Connor, who finished the event in 21st place and narrowly missed out on a spot in the tournament’s third round. Freshman foil Zoe Lenz reached the second round as well, en route to a 27th-place finish. Silver and freshman épée Hilla Wetherill finished 34th and 33rd in their respective divisions. Junior sabre Aram Ramsay, senior sabre Brooke Lippe and freshman foil Nina Qiu rounded out the results for the Leopards, finishing 36th, 37th and 39th, respectively.

Silver ended her collegiate career on a high, winning in her second-to-last bout against a fencer who had bested her last year.

“I definitely wanted to finish and be happy with my performance,” Silver said. “I had my teammates watching me and that was pretty nice to see.”

Silver also expressed hope for the team’s future based on the performance of the freshman class.

“When they got here, they were all super excited to be a part of a team, excited to come together, excited to represent Lafayette,” she said. “I’ve been really happy with how the team did.”

On the men’s side, senior foil Chris Davis had the best performance for the Leopards, advancing to the third round and finishing in 17th place. He was followed by senior foils Benito Hergert and Amir Whitehead, who finished 22nd and 33rd, respectively.

For the épée squad, senior épée Antoine Mannes led the team with a 19th place finish, followed by junior épée Tyler Morse in 27th and freshman épée Ryan Leibowitz in 47th. For the sabres, freshman sabre Jordan Ginsberg earned a 24th place finish, and freshman sabre Nikita Kogan and sophomore sabre Sam Gilpin finished 36th and 42nd, respectively. 

“I didn’t really have too many expectations because it’s such a difficult meet,” Hergert said. “I think we had strong performances, stronger than we have on average in previous years.”

The men’s team had just one week to prepare for the tournament after competing in the MACFA Championships last Sunday. With so little turnaround time, Hergert said the team focused on mental readiness.

“Trying to cram one week in advance isn’t going to do anything,” Hergert said. “So we really tried to get into the headspace of ‘Go out there, have fun and do what we do best.’”

With their careers as Leopards now at a close, both Silver and Hergert reflected positively on what it meant to be a part of the team.

“It’s been a really fulfilling experience,” Hergert said. “It was everything I felt like an athletic experience at college would be. We worked hard, and we did the best we could.”

“When we came in, we had a different coach, different team and people who had only really fenced in high school,” Silver said. “Now we have people who can hold their own. I hope it made an impact in the sport.”

Disclaimer: News Editor Makenna McCall ’27 is a member of the fencing team. She did not contribute writing or reporting.