Three Medal at NCAA Northeast Fencing Regionals

Sunday, March 10

Brookville, N.Y.

Columbia University

NCAA Regionals

3/10/2024 9:56:00 PM | Fencing

Final Results

Haddad and Yamanaka take silver, Nagimov earns bronze

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. — Columbia fencing had three medalists at the NCAA Regionals, hosted by LIU on Long Island on Sunday. Justin Haddad (men's epee) and Mina Yamanaka (women's epee) claimed silver, and Marsel Nagimov took bronze in men's foil.

The Lions had 15-of-24 fencers reach the final pools and earn top-12 finishes. Columbia will aim to qualify the maximum 12 competitors (six men, six women - two per weapon) for the NCAA Championships, which will be announced Tuesday, March 12.

All five men's foil fencers placed in the top eight. Nagimov breezed to a 6-0 record in his first grouping and went 4-2 to qualify for the final round. There, he went 7-5 with a +10 indicator to earn a spot on the podium. Sam Kumbla and Zach Binder were right behind in fourth and fifth place. Kumbla was 19-4, and Binder went 16-7 in their three rounds. Bogdan Hamilton (18-5) and Enoch Xiao (8-4) placed seventh and eighth.

The duo of Yamanaka and Tierna Oxenreider reached the finals in women's epee. Yamanaka was undefeated going into the last session and posted a 9-2 in her final bouts, tying with Cornell's Ketki Ketkar, who took first after holding a four-touch edge in the indicator tiebreak. Oxenreider got better as the day went on, using a 5-1 mark in the middle round robin to reach the finals and picking up six victories to close the tournament.

Haddad was lights out in his first two groupings, posting a 9-3 mark to reach the finals. He fell just one bout short of the podium, winning 7-of-11 matchups. Skyler Liverant also put himself in good position to return to the NCAA Championships, finishing eighth with 12 victories on the day.

Vera Kong and Tamar Gordon placed eighth and ninth, respectively, in women's sabre. Kong posted a perfect 6-0 mark and Gordon won five of six in their first session to advance. The duo each went 4-2 in the next level to advance to the final round robins. Kong took four bouts, while Gordon won three to earn their final positions.

In men's sabre, Jackson McBride put together a fifth-place performance after improving in each session. He started the day with a 3-3 mark, followed by a 4-2 effort in the semifinal bouts. In the last rounds, McBride notched six victories for his best NCAA Regional finish in his third appearance at the event.

First-year Rachael Kim was the Lions' top finisher in women's foil after placing fourth. Kim went 5-1 in her early grouping and 4-2 to secure a spot in the finals. She went 7-4 to close out her first trip to NCAA Regionals. Evelyn Cheng started the day going a combined 10-2 in her first two pools and closed the day out with six victories to claim sixth place. Sofia Gaydos also reached the final stage, using a 6-0 and 4-2 mark and placed ninth after four wins in the evening session.

The 2024 NCAA Championships will be held from March 21-24 on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

For the latest on Columbia's fencing programs, follow @CULionsFencing on Twitter and Instagram and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.

COLUMBIA NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL RESULTS
Women's Sabre
Vera Kong (8th Place)
Tamar Gordon (9th Place)
Chloe Gouhin (22nd Place)
Madison Four-Garcia (30th Place)

Men's Sabre
Jackson McBride (5th Place)
Nick Harvey (T-19th Place)
Jaden Callahan (22nd Place)

Women's Foil
Rachael Kim (4th Place)
Evelyn Cheng (6th Place)
Sofia Gaydos (9th Place)
Vivian Zheng (13th Place)

Men's Foil
Marsel Nagimov (3rd Place)
Sam Kumbla (4th Place)
Zach Binder (5th Place)
Bogdan Hamilton (7th Place)
Enoch Xiao (8th Place)

Women's Epee
Mina Yamanaka (2nd Place)
Tierna Oxenreider (6th Place)
Audrey Chu (13th Place)
Janet Chen (24th Place)

Men's Epee
Justin Haddad (2nd Place)
Skyler Liverant (8th Place)
Ethan Kushnerik (16th Place)
Howard Zhao (28th Place)