The 145-fencer field for the 2009 NCAA Fencing Championships includes plenty of first-year participants (many of them part of an impressive freshman grouping) – but there also are several battled-tested veterans (eight men, five women) who will be making their fourth appearance at the NCAAs.
More than half (7) of the 13 fencers who are four-time NCAA entrants come from two weapons (four men's epeeists and three in men's foil). The 13 include two each from Harvard, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Stanford, plus single fencers from Brandeis, North Carolina, Northwestern, Stanford and Yale.
There also are 21 fencers in the 2009 NCAA field who will be making their third appearance. The most noteworthy fencers on these two lists are Ohio State senior men's foilist Andras Horanyi and Wayne State junior men's epeeist Slava Zingerman, who each will be looking to win the NCAA title in their respective weapons for the third time (there have been only 12 previous fencers in NCAA history who have won three or more titles – see the "History tab").
Slava Zingerman (left)
Other four-time entrants of note include three women's fencers: Notre Dame women's foilist Adi Nott (who placed 6th-3rd-4th in the past three NCAAs), Northwestern women's foilist Samantha Nemecek (8th-7th-8th in the '06-'08 NCAAs) and Stanford women's epeeist Eva Jellison (8th-10th-9th). Those three fencers – along with Horanyi – will be attempting to join an elite group of fencers who have been four-time All-Americans (top-12 finishers earn All-America honors).
Four-Year NCAA Fencing Participants (2006-2009)
Fencers in bold italics will be attempting to become four-time All-Americans
• Andras Horanyi (Ohio State) ... '06 runner-up, '07 & '08 champion
• Kai Itameri-Kinter (Harvard) ... 6th in '06, 15th in '07, 19th in '08
• Will Friedman (Brandeis) ... placed 22nd in '06, 23rd in '07, 7th in '08
Kai-Itameri Kinter (left)
MEN'S EPEE (4)
• Michael Pearce (Yale) ... placed 5th in '06, 21st in '07 and 13th in '08
• Karol Kostka (Notre Dame) ... placed 18th in '06, 11th in '07 and 9th in '08
• Clayton Kenney (Stanford) ... placed 20th in '06, 15th in '07 and 11th in '08
• Jason Pryor (Ohio State) ... placed 17th in '06, 20th in '07 and 10th in '08
Bobby Ziechmann (left)• Bobby Ziechmann (North Carolina) ... 21st in '06, 16th in '07, 18th in '08
WOMEN'S FOIL (2)
• Adi Nott (Notre Dame) ... placed 6th in '06, 3rd in '07 and 4th in '08
• Samantha Nemecek (Northwestern) ... 8th in '06, 7th in '07, 8th in '08
WOMEN'S EPEE (1)
• Maria Larsson (Harvard) ... placed 9th in '06, 11th in '07 and 13th in '08
WOMEN'S SABRE (2)
• Eva Jellison (Stanford) ... placed 8th in '06, 10th in '07 and 9th in '08
• Alex Heiss (Cornell) ... placed 20th in '06, 13th in '07 and 13th in '08
Eva Jellison (left)
The second list below shows the 21 fencers who will be making their third appearance at the NCAAs – with many of those fencers (non-seniors) likely to be making their fourth trips to the NCAAs one year from now (in 2010). Note that several of the fencers listed below took off one year (or two) from college fencing, in order to focus on Olympic qualification. Those fencers include Harvard men's foilist Emily Cross and men's epeeist Benji Ungar (neither fenced for the Crimson in '07 or '08), along with Columbia men's epeeist Dwight Smith and Penn state women's sabreist Caity Thompson (both did not fence in '08 college bouts).
Kurt Getz (left)
Cross won the NCAA women's foil title as a freshman in '05 (she was 3rd in '06), while Ungar was the 2006 NCAA men's epee champ (5th in '05) and Thompson finished as the '07 NCAA runner-up in women's sabre (4th in '06). Other top finishers from the list of 21 below include Columbia men's foilist Kurt Getz (3rd in '07 and '08) and Ohio State men's sabreist Mike Momtselidze ('08 runner-up, 4th in '07).
Most/Least Veteran NCAA Weapon Fields (2009)
(Number indicates total of three- or four-year veterans in the field)
11 ... men's epee
6 ... men's foil and women's epee
4 ... men's sabre and women's foil
3 ... women's sabre
Three-Year NCAA Fencing Participants (2005-2009)
Fencers in bold italics will be attempting to become three-time All-Americans
John Gurrieri (left)• Kurt Getz (Columbia) ... placed 3rd in '07 and '08
• Nick Chinman (Penn State) ... placed 5th in '07 and 4th in '08
• John Gurrieri (Yale) ... placed 18th in '07 and 13th in '08
Stan Vaksman (left)• Slava Zingerman (Wayne State) ... champion in '07 and '08
• Benji Ungar (Harvard) ... placed 7th in '05 and champion in '06
• Dwight Smith (Columbia) ... placed 7th in '06 and 4th in '07
• Stan Vaksman (St. John's) ... placed 7th in '07 and 4th in '08
• Peter French (Air Force) ... placed 14th in '07 and 6th in '08
• James Moody (Penn State) ... placed 19th in '06 and 17th in '08
• Ben Wieder (Penn) ... placed 17th in '07 and 23rd in '08
Sam Roukas (left)• Mike Momtselidze (Ohio State) ... placed 4th in '07, runner-up in '08
• Peter Truszkowski (Duke) ... placed 10th in '07 and 8th in '08
• Sam Roukas (NYU) ... placed 22nd in '07 and 7th in '08
Melissa Parker (left)• Emily Cross (Harvard) ... champion in '05 and 3rd in '06
• Melissa Parker (Temple) ... placed 9th in '07 and 7th in '08
Christa French (left)• Anastasia Ferdman (Penn State) ... placed 4th in '07 and 6th in '08
• Christa French (Northwestern) ... placed 6th in '07 and 10th in '08
• Joanna Guy (St. John's) ... placed 10th in '05 and 20th in '06
• Tess Finkel (Columbia) ... placed 18th in '07 and 14th in '08
• Jasjit Bhinder (Princeton) ... placed 21st in '07 and 11th in '08
WOMEN'S SABRE (1)
• Caity Thompson (Penn State) ... placed 4th in '06 and was runner-up in '07