STANFORD, Calif. – For five Stanford fencers, the NCAA Championships weren't just a goal, but an expectation. That was the number of Cardinal who qualified for nationals and were only a week away from competing.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented that from happening. However, Robin Cheong, Hanna Lee, Madeline Liao, Noah Matricciani, and Lucas Orts were named All-Americans, being rewarded for outstanding seasons rather than solely NCAA performances, as is the norm for All-America recognition.
Stanford had four West Region champions: Robin Cheong (men's epee), Hanna Lee (women's epee), Madeline Liao (women's foil), and Lucas Orts (men's foil). In addition to those four, Noah Matricciani earned a berth in the NCAA Championships as an at-large selection.
Cheong and Matricciani were second-team All-Americans, with Lee, Liao, and Orts named honorable mention.
Altogether, Stanford had 12 all-region selections.
The Stanford men captured the Western Conference title and the women were second.
The strength of the team was in the men's saber, which went 15-1 as a group. The team of Eugene Ko, Samuel Kwong, Calvin Zau, and Matricciani had an overall bout record of 133-55 (.707).
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Season honors
Men
Julian Cheng
All-West Region honorable mention
Robin Cheong
All-America second team
All-West Region first team
Tristan Krueger
All-West Region honorable mention
Aidan Kung
All-West Region honorable mention
Samuel Kwong
All-West Region second team
Noah Matricciani
All-America second team
All-West Region second team
Top season record by winning percentage on men's team: 38-8 (.826)
Lucas Orts
All-America honorable mention
All-West Region first team
Most victories on men's team: 42-13 (.764)
CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 At Large selection
Calvin Zau
All-West Region honorable mention
Women
Valerie Garcia
All-West Region honorable mention
Amanda Han
All-West Region honorable mention
Hanna Lee
All-America honorable mention
All-West Region first team
Most victories and best winning percentage on women's team: 48-12 (.762).
Madeline Liao
All-American honorable mention
All-West Region first team
