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Guest Column: 2013 NCAA Women's Sabre Projection, by Caroline Vloka (Harvard '12)
Former Harvard standout Caroline Vloka is CF360's final guest columnist for 2013 NCAA analysis and projection. Vloka certainly can speak from experience, as she was in the running for the NCAA women's saber title all four years of her career (5th or higher each season). Vloka won the NCAA title as a sophomore, one rear after losing in the 2009 final vs. eventual 3-time champion Becca Ward of Duke. As a junior, Vloka made a third straight trip to the medal round (top-4) and narrowly missed a top-4 finish as a senior (5th).
By Caroline Vloka (Harvard '12)
The NCAA Fencing Championship is a competition unlike any other. It is fast-paced, and every five-touch bout counts for more than any fencer would like. The pool bout in sabre goes by so quickly that it's almost as if you hadn’t fenced at all. It is very unnerving after the first round, to see that more than 1/5th of the competition is already over. It is hard to recover from a two-bout loss early on, and the mindset is everything.
This competition tests your mental toughness.The fencer must change the strategy from one opponent to the next, within only a few minutes.The competitors are some of the best in the county, and each fencer is pushed to their mental limits in trying to compose a new approach for each bout.
Guest Column: 2013 NCAA Women's Epee Projection, by Lydia Kopecky (Columbia '13)
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)
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)
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
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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
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
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
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.
by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)
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).
CLICK HERE for Northeast Regional women's entries
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.
• 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.
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
by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)
• CLICK HERE for Midwest Regional men'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.
• 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.
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.
by Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)
CLICK HERE for Mid-Atlantic/South women'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.
• 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.