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The final day of the 2009 Junior World Championships (April 16) featured four different U.S. college fencers competing in the women's epee team event (the second-most collegians in any of the six weapons, trailing only the six in men's sabre). Notre Dame sophomore Eva Nelip proved to be the most successful of the 15 total U.S. collegians who competed in the '09 JWCs, as Nelip placed second in both the individual and team events for women's epee (Poland lost the gold-medal match by a single point, in overtime).

Another ND fencer, freshman Courtney Hurley, and Princeton freshman Susannah Scanlan played key roles in the third-place finish by the United States women's epee team, while Penn State freshman Nina Westman and her Sweden teammates placed eighth (a rundown of each team's matches follows below). Hurley was +11 in touches (49-38) during the four U.S. team matches, while Scanlan was -9 (45-54) and Westman won 11 of 20 touches (+2) in Sweden's two matches.

Hurley currently is ranked second among the world's under-20 women's epeeists, while Nelip is third, Scanlan 19th and Westman 25th.

Monday's final day of action at the Junior World Championships featured six U.S. collegians  and produced some thrilling finishes, in the men's foil and women's epee competition. Most notably, Notre Dame's Gerek Meinhardt and Penn State's Miles Chamley-Watson led the United States men's foil team to a runner-up finish while ND sophomore Ewa Nelip and her Poland teammates lost the women's epee gold-medal bout on a touch in overtime (vs. Russia). The U.S. women's epeeists – featuring ND freshman Courtney Hurley and Princeton freshman Susannah Scanlan – won the third-place matchup, while Penn State freshman Nina Westman and her Sweden teammates ended up in eighth place.

Meinhardt went 57-48 (+11) in touches and Chamley-Watson was 47-44 (+3) during the four U.S. men's foil matches on Monday, which included wins over #18  Egypt (45-38), #10 Japan (45-26) and #2 Russia (43-42), plus the gold-medal loss to top-ranked Italy (45-34). Meinhardt and Russia's Dmitry Zherebchenko traded 12 touches in the ninth and final round of that semifinal showdown, with Meinhardt then scoring the final point in overtime.

BELFAST – Four U.S. college fencers competed in Friday's women's epee competition at the Junior World Championships, led by a runner-up finish for Notre Dame sophomore Ewa Nelip (competing for her native Poland). Two members of the U.S. team – ND freshman Courtney Hurley (11th) and Princeton freshman Susannah Scanlan (16th) – also finished in the top-16, while Penn State freshman Nina Westman (Sweden) placed 36th.

The Notre Dame duo of Hurley and Nelip now are listed 2-3 on the FIE world under-20 women's epee rankings (Hurley entered the tournament #2, while Nelip was 14th). Westman was ranked 12th prior to the Junior Worlds (now 25th), while Scanlan moved up from 24th to 19th.

NELIP (Katowice, Poland) – who has reached the NCAA semifinals in each of the past two years – opened the '09 Junior Worlds by winning all five of her bouts in pool-13 (+11)., highlighted by a 5-2 bout with Sweden's Emma Vaggo (who entered the week ranked 20th among the world's u-20 women's epeeists). Her other opening bouts included a 5-3 victory over Latvia's Anastasija Trjasko, plus 5-1 wins over Croatia's Roberta Ilijasev, Canada's Gabrielle Lavoie    Canada and  the USA's Francesca Bassa.

BELFAST– Columbia University sophomore Nicole Ross – a two-time All-American who placed third at the 2008 NCAAs (5th in '09) – paced the United States women's foil team to an impressive gold-medal finish today at the Junior World Championships. Ross (New York, N.Y.) went 18-5 over her final two rounds, helping the U.S. overcome an early 11-16 deficit and go on to defeat Italy in the gold-medal match (45-40). Elite high-school-aged fencers Nzigha Prescod and Lee Kiefer joined Ross in the  championship effort.

Nicole Ross (left)

The title showdown yielded a battle between the world's top-ranked u-20 women's foil teams (Italy #1, U.S. #2), with Prescod ranked #2 individually while Italy's three feners occupy the 3-4-5 spots: Martina Batini, Alice Volpi and Valentina DeCostanzo (Ross currently is #23 and Kiefer 33rd). In Wednesday's individual competition, Volpi finished as the runner-up, Badini reached the semifinals, Prescod was 9th, Ross 9th, DeCostanzo 12th and Kiefer 18th.

Kiefer won four of the five final points vs. Volpi in Saturday's round-4, cutting Italy's lead to 15-17. Prescod then maintained the two-point deficit (20-22), after splitting 10 touches against DeCostanzo in round-5. Ross – who was -2 earlier in the day vs. DeCostanzo – then thrust the U.S. into the lead, going 9-3 vs. Batini for a 29-25 team score.

BELFAST– Friday's action at the Junior World Championships featured the final individual events, with six U.S. college fencers in action. Two elite entrants from Notre Dame – women's epeeist Ewa Nelip (Katowice, Poland) and men's foilist Gerek Meindardt (San Francisco, Calif.) – both reached the medal rounds of their respective weapons, with Nelip finishing as the runner-up while Meinhardt lost in the semifinals.

Women's epee featured the second-most U.S. college fencers (4) of any weapon at this event, trailing only the five entered in men's sabre. Team USA members Courtney Hurley (ND; 11th) and Susannah Scanlan (Princeton; 16th) both reached the women's epee round-of-16, with Penn State's Nina Westman (Sweden) placing 36th. Another Penn State fencer, men's foilist Miles Chamley-Watson, nearly reached the round-of-16 and ended up in 10th place.

Each of the fencers listed above will be in action on Monday, in the team portion of the event. Check back to the blog for complete details recapping the U.S. collegian bouts from the past two days (see post below for info. from Wednesday's men's sabre and women's foil competition).

An assortment of (at least) 15 collegiate fencers are in the process of competing at the 2009 Junior World Championships, a six-day event being held in Ireland at the Jordanstown campus (seven miles outside of Belfast). CF360 has been able to confirm 15 fencers from U.S. college varsity programs who are competing in this elite event, with those 15 including 11 on the United States team, plus one each from Brazil, Canada, Poland and Sweden.

Through the first two days of individual competition (women's foil, men's epee, and men's and women's sabre), four U.S. college fencers have placed in the top-16 - led by a bronze-medal finish for St. John's freshman men's sabreist Daryl Homer (pictured). Other top-16 finishers include Columbia sophomore women's foilist Nicole Ross (9th), Harvard freshman women's sabreist Caroline Vloka (10th) and Notre Dame sophomore men's sabreist Avery Zuck (16th). A couple weeks ago, Homer and Vloka both finished as NCAA runner-up in their respective weapons (Zuck placed fifth in the round-robin standings, narrowly missing a spot in the medal round).

Some more exclusive NCAA video to pass along – fast-moving women's sabre action from the medal round, highlighting the final two bouts for champion Becca Ward:

CLICK HERE   for NCAA semifinal between Daria Schneider and Becca Ward

CLICK HERE   for NCAA final between Caroloine Vloka and Becca Ward

Duke freshman Becca Ward (the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist) lost only a handful of bouts throughout the college season, capped by her victory at the NCAAs. Ward went 22-1 in the NCAA round-robin (her only loss came vs. another top freshman, Penn State's Monica Aksamit) and then faced a big challenge in the semifinals, vs. Columbia junior and '07 NCAA champion Daria Schneider (that bout was tied 8-8, but Ward won seven of the final eight points for a 15-9 win). She then faced yet another elite rookie, Harvard's Caroline Vloka, in the title bout – and Ward closed with a dominating 15-4 victory.