NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- A victory in her final bout allowed Haley Koo to complete the National Collegiate Fencing Championships on a positive note on her way to 18th in the women's foil at the University of Notre Dame's Castellan Family Fencing Center on Friday.
The Stanford sophomore closed out her two-day, 23-bout competition with a 5-2 victory over NYU's Maria Stamos, giving Koo a 1-7 record for the day and 8-15 mark in all. Koo completed her season with a 55-27 (.671) overall record.
Koo was the only Stanford woman to compete at nationals and will be followed by five Cardinal men on Saturday and Sunday. Noah Matricciani and Donghwan Park compete in saber, Draper Dayton and Lucas Orts in foil, and Aidan Kung in epee. The six, including Koo, represent the most qualifiers for Stanford since six in 2019.
This will be the fourth qualification and third appearance for Orts, who has a best finish of 10th, in 2019. The 2020 lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Orts, Matricciani and three others from competing after qualifying.
This is the first nationals appearance for Dayton, a freshman, and seniors Kung and Matricciani. Park reached nationals last year as a freshman, placing 11th.
Koo and Orts won NCAA West Regional titles on March 18, as well as the first MPSF Championships on March 19, both in San Antonio, Texas. Kung was second in regionals.
On Saturday, the first three rounds of the epee (6 a.m. PT), foil (8 a.m. PT), and saber (10 a.m. PT) will take place. On Sunday, the fourth and fifth rounds begin at 6 a.m. PT for all three weapons, and the championship bouts at 10:30 a.m. PT.
The overall season records for each of Stanford's men, in order of winning percentage: Orts, 46-14 (.767); Matricciani, 33-12 (.733); Dayton, 21-13 (.618); Park, 23-15 (.605); and Kung, 29-31 (.483).
