U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Stanford fencers won four of the six gold medals at the NCAA West Regionals at Cadet Gym on Saturday and five other Cardinal are in contention for NCAA berths.
Robin Cheong won the men's epee, Lucas Orts captured the men's foil, Hanna Lee won the women's epee, and Madeline Liao was the championship in the women's foil.
All four qualified automatically for the NCAA Championships on March 19-22 at Detroit's TCF Center.
In addition to the automatic allocations in each weapon, two at-large berths will be awarded in each and announced Tuesday. Stanford has five men who will be considered: Tristan Krueger and Aidan Kung in epee, Julian Cheng in foil, and Noah Matricciani and Samuel Kwong in saber.
The results were determined by pool competition. There was no team competition among the four schools in the region – Stanford, Air Force, Incarnate Word, and UC San Diego.
Lee, a sophomore, reached her second NCAA Championships. Her victory Saturday was a narrow one. Lee and UCSD's Emma Zmurk each went 5-2 in the final round, with Zmurk beating Lee, 5-3. But Lee had an eight-point differential in the final round to Zmurk's plus-5.
Liao, a junior, advanced to the NCAA's for the third time. Liao and Incarnate Word's Oleksandra Rebchunovska each went 10-1, with Liao winning their matchup, 5-2. Liao had a plus-24 differential to Rebchunovska's plus-20.
Cheong, a senior, qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time. He went 10-2 to 8-4 for runner-up Matthew Han of Air Force.
Orts, a returning All-American, will compete in the NCAA's Championships for the third time. He went 6-1 in the final round, the same as runner-up Benjamin Hadler of UC San Diego. Hadley beat Orts, 5-3, but Orts had a plus-20 point differential in the round to Hadler's plus-13.
Overall, Stanford had 22 competing – 11 men and 11 women. And no doubt Cardinal fencers and coaches will cross their fingers in the hopes of more teammates joining the four champions in Detroit. Meanwhile, Stanford can celebrate four regional championships. A good day.
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NCAA West Regionals
At Cadet Gym
Winners and all Stanford
Men
Saber: 1, Shawn Kim (UCSD) 10-1; 3, Noah Matricciani (Stanford) 8-3; 4, Samuel Kwong (Stanford) 8-3; 6, Calvin Zau (Stanford) 5-6; 8, Eugene Ko (Stanford) 5-6.
Foil: 1, Lucas Orts (Stanford) 5-1 (1st round), 6-1 (final round); 5, Julian Cheng (Stanford) 5-1 (1st round), 3-4 (final round); 9, Joshua Kang (Stanford) 2-4 (1st round); 13, Justin Kang (Stanford) 1-5 (1st round).
Epee: 1, Robin Cheong (Stanford) 10-2; 5, Tristan Krueger (Stanford) 7-5; 6, Aidan Kung (Stanford) 7-5.
Women
Saber: 1, Leanne Singleton-Comfort (Air Force) 10-0; 6, Valerie Garcia (Stanford) 5-5; 7, Caroline Wang (Stanford) 5-5; 8, Rose Adams (Stanford) 5-5; 10, Kathy Hu (Stanford) 3-7.
Foil: 1, Madeline Liao (Stanford) 10-1; 8, Anna Lee (Stanford) 4-7; 10, Woo Joo Kwon (Stanford) 3-8; 12, Liana Keesing (Stanford) 0-11.
Epee: 1, Hanna Lee (Stanford) 6-0 (1st round), 5-2 (final round); 5, Amanda Han (Stanford) 5-1 (1st round), 4-3 (final round); 13, Caroline Baker (Stanford) 0-6 (1st round).
