STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford freshman Sanjay Kasi, facing the conference foil champion, scored the winning touch to give the Cardinal the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team fencing title and close out a championship-filled Sunday at Burnham Pavilion.
The Cardinal won four of six individual titles before repeating as team champion through a format called a team relay, in which each team competes with one male and female in each weapon with a score accumulating as each concludes until a team reaches 30.
Facing Air Force in the final, Stanford built a lead through the saber mastery of individual champions Joy Yun and Donghwan Park. With foil the final weapon, Stanford went with two freshmen to close the match.
Crystal Qian, who helped Stanford complete a women's sweep of the individual titles, increased the lead to 25-15 as Kasi entered the strip to face Jack Griffith, the MPSF individual champ. Kasi had struggled to a 1-9 record on Saturday at the NCAA West Regionals, which consisted of the same schools – Stanford, Air Force, UC San Diego, and Incarnate Word. Meanwhile, Griffith went 8-2 to win the regional title and set himself up as the No. 1 seed for the MPSF tournament.
Kasi didn't back down. Though Griffith outscored him, 9-5, Kasi never allowed his opponent momentum and got the touches he needed to ignite a Cardinal celebration.
"Sanjay's results the day before was not reflective of his potential," said Stanford co-head coach Lisa Posthumus. "He was able to redeem himself here today. That's exactly what we wanted from him, it's what we asked of him, and that's exactly how he performed. He delivered.
"And to defend our title with freshmen finishing our competition means great things for the future."
Stanford's men and women historically have competed for conference team championships separately. When the MPSF began to sponsor fencing in 2022, it created a combined title. Though records are incomplete, Stanford's men won at least seven titles since first joining a conference in 1965, and the women won one, with a combined title in 1980. Therefore, Stanford fencing now has at least 11 conference team championships.
Besides Qian and Yun, Stanford's individual titles came from Irene Yeu, an upset winner as the No. 2 seed in women's epee, and Donghwan Park in men's saber.
"Did I expect something like that?" Posthumus said. "I never expect anything coming into this tournament. The fact is, the regional event going into the NCAA Championships is a difficult tournament for everyone. And there are many surprises all the time. This year, I was pleased with our results across the board."
All four champions were joined by Kasi and Kai Rayle in men's epee on the team relay. Stanford was pitted against Incarnate Word in the semifinals and earned a 30-18 victory – with Kasi earning a 5-1 advantage in his stint. Meanwhile, Air Force pulled out a dramatic 30-29 victory over UC San Diego in their semifinal.
The MPSF may be on to something. The team relay, which is used as a single-sex format in some international competitions, was especially exciting in a collegiate setting with mixed teams. The crowd and other fencers were on their feet for big points and created the loudest atmosphere of the weekend.
For the individual weapons, the top four placers in the regional competition on Saturday earned semifinal spots for the MPSF tournament, with the regional champions given the top seeds. Five of those top seeds won. The exception was Yeu, the No. 2 seed in epee.
Though Yeu did beat UC San Diego's top-seeded Renee Zuhars on Saturday, she was second to Zuhars in the regional pool standings. Yeu beat Zuhars again in Sunday's final, 15-8.
Qian beat UCSD's Kyra Wu in the foil final, 15-9, and Yun beat Air Force's Mira Vestel in the saber final, 15-9. Park won the men's saber title by beating UCSD's Jerry Pan, 15-11.
Rayle advanced to the men's epee final before falling to UCSD's Vedran Markota, 15-11.
Despite Stanford's success Sunday, none of those results count toward NCAA Championships selection, which will be announced on Tuesday. Cardinal under consideration for NCAA's March 23-26 in
Durham, North Carolina, are: Qian, Yeu, Yun, Jeanette Han (saber), and Haley Koo (foil) among the women; and Donghwan Park, Rayle and Luke Park (foil) for the men.
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MPSF Championships
At Burnham Pavilion
Team
Final: Stanford 30, Air Force 24.
Semifinals: Stanford 30, Incarnate Word 18; Air Force 30, UC San Diego 29.
Men
Epee
Final: Vedran Markota (UCSD) d. Kai Rayle (Stanford), 15-11.
Semifinals: Markota d. Isaac Ive (UCSD), 15-11; Rayle d. Rico Braun (IW), 15-8.
Foil
Final: Jack Griffith (AF) d. Lawrence Song (UCSD), 15-13.
Semifinals: Griffith d. Luke Park (Stanford), 15-5; Song d. Jacob Levy (UCSD), 15-12.
Saber
Final: Donghwan Park (Stanford) d. Jerry Pan (UCSD), 15-11.
Semifinals: Park d. Peter Flores (IW), 15-8; Pan d. Shawn Kim (UCSD), 15-10.
Women
Epee
Final: Irene Yeu (Stanford) d. Renee Zuhars (UCSD), 15-8.
Semifinals: Zuhars d. Tean Brooks (UCSD), 15-11; Yeu d. Jocelyn Ratzlaff (AF), 15-10.
Foil
Final: Crystal Qian (Stanford) d. Melissa Kline (AF), 15-8.
Semifinals: Qian d. Haley Koo (Stanford), 15-9; Kline d. Kyra Wu (UCSD), 15-9.
Saber
Final: Joy Yun (Stanford) d. Mira Vestel (AF), 15-9.
Semifinals: Yun d. Jeanette Han (Stanford), 15-4; Vestel d. Carolina Geyer (IW), 15-8.