Two-Time NCAA Championship Fencing Squad Adds 11 to Roster for 2016-17
9/6/2016 9:00:00 AM | Fencing
NEW YORK – The two-time defending NCAA Champion Columbia fencing program will welcome 11 new members to the squad for the 2016-17 season. Comprised of seven men and four women the class of 2020 will represent four different states and five international student-athletes from four countries.
“This season we welcome a group of very seasoned and accomplished fencers,” said head coach Michael Aufrichtig. “Three were ranked No. 1 in the country in their respected weapons. In a program where great things are expected, I am very confident this class will help us stay on the top.”
MEN
Andrew Doddo
Sabre
South Orange, N.J. | Columbia High School
Doddo, a native of South Orange, New Jersey, will make the short trek over the Hudson to join the Lions. The sabreur was named to the Cadet World Team and a Junior Olympic Champion in 2015. He finished the 2014-2015 season as the top-ranked Cadet in the U.S. and No. 3 in the world in 2015.
Alexander Walker II
Sabre
Atlanta, Ga. | Westminster School
Walker placed third at the Cadet World Cup in Godollo, Hungary in 2014. A member of the Nellya Fencers Club, he finished second at the 2013 Junior Olympics and fifth at the Junior World Cup in Phoenix, Arizona that same year.
Mick Yamanaka
Epee
Floral Park, N.Y. | Bronx HS of Science
Yamanaka, who began fencing at the age of seven after seeing a James Bond movie, earned a 2015 Cadet Junior Olympic Championship. He also took sixth at the Cadet World Cup in Helsinki, Finland in 2015. In 2014, Yamanaka claimed a third-place finish at the Summer Nationals Cadet. The Floral Park, New York, native won a New York High School fencing crown as a sophomore.
Sam Moelis
Foil
Hewlett, N.Y. | Lynbrook
Only 26 miles separates Moelis' hometown of Hewlett on Long Island from the Morningside Heights campus. A 2015 Cadet World Champion, he also finished seventh at the Junior World Championships and picked up a Division I National Championship that year. Moelis has spent recent summers running fencing camps and a program to introduce the sport to autistic children.
Sacha Schouker
Epee
Tannay, Switzerland | Istitut Florimont
Schouker is a two-time medalist at the Gex International Competition, earning a gold medal as a sophomore and silver during his junior year. He won three bronze medals at Swiss National Competitions in 2015 and received a Swiss Olympic Regional Talent Card in 2016. Schouker finished eighth in the U17 Swiss National Circuit in 2014-15 and was 14th during the 2015-16 campaign.
Alex Shin
Foil
Busan, South Korea | Korea Christian International School
Shin's journey will take him nearly 7,000 miles away from his homeland of South Korea. He claimed third place at the 2014 South Korea Club Championship (high school league) and the 2015 South Korea Club Championship (college league). Shin began fencing during his sophomore year when he was introduced to the Lourus fencing club.
Jakob Stymne
Epee
Stockholm, Sweden | Viktor Rydberg Gymnasium
Stymme won a Swedish Junior National Title in 2016 as well as a national team championship in 2015. He placed in the top-eight twice (2014 and 2016) at the Senior Satellite World Cups and in the top-32 at the Junior World Cup in 2013 and 2015. In 2012, Stymme was the runner-up at the Cadet World Cup in Copenhagen.
WOMEN
Giana Vierheller
Epee
Pittsburgh, Pa. | Lamar (Houston, Texas)
Vierheller won the epee title at the 2015 Junior World Cup in Espoo Finland in 2015. She also finished the 2015-16 campaign No. 3 in the Junior National Rankings. Vierheller was on the podium with a third-place finish at the Junior Women's North American Cup in Dallas this year. In 2013, she took first at the Cadet World Cup in Grenoble, France.
Rachel Sun
Epee
Beijing, China | International School of Beijing
Sun, who was originally born in Toronto, Canada, grew up in Beijing with a family of golfers before being introduced to fencing. She won a trio of events in 2015, including individual titles a the Vango Fencing Championships Beijing Fencing Association Series, Championships Finals and International Fencing Center Championships. In 2014, she placed third at both the Vango Stage Beijing Fencing Association Cup and the National Fencing Club Tournament Finals. Sun also won an individual and team championship at the National Fencing Club Tournament Finals and Beijing Fencing Association Series in 2013.
Violet Michel
Sabre
Cambridge, Mass. | Buckingham Browne & Nichols
Michel was a member of the 2014 Cadet World Team and 2015 Cadet and Junior World Team. She finished the 2015 season ranked first in the U.S. and fifth in the world (in cadets), picking up a Junior Olympic Championship along the way. Michel also picked up three first place team sabre trophies at the Junior Olympics from 2014-16 and won a Massachusetts ISL team and individual sabre title in 2012.
Ester Schreiber
Foil
Gothenburg, Sweden | Sigrid Rudecks Gymnasium
Schreiber, who will enroll at Barnard, College, holds dual citizenship in both Sweden and France. She was a Swedish Senior National Champion 2014 and 2015 and Junior Champion from 2011-16. Schreiber took fifth at the Junior European Championships last year, placed 10th at the Junior World Cup in Timisoara and turned in a 19th place performance at the Junior European Championship.
