MEDFORD, Mass. — Columbia fencing had eight medalists at the NCAA Regionals, hosted by Tufts on Sunday.
Marsel Nagimov won gold in men's foil,
Zander Rhodes finished first in women's foil and Tierna Oxenreder won women's epee.
Will Morrill (men's sabre) and
Justin Haddad (men's epee) earned silver, while Carolina Stuchbury (women's foil),
Samarth Kumbla (men's foil) and
Tamar Gordon (women's sabre) picked up bronze.
The Lions had 16-of-24 fencers reach the final pools and earn top-12 finishes. Columbia will aim to qualify the maximum of 12 competitors (six men, six women - two per weapon) for the NCAA Championships, which will be announced Tuesday, March 11.
"We knew we were fencing against great competition, but we came in prepared and rose to the occasion," said head coach
Michael Aufrichtig. "To accomplish what we did today in the toughest qualifying tournament in the country was incredible. We've put ourselves in a great position to qualify 12 for the NCAAs, and I could not be any prouder of this group."
Women's foil had four of the top five finishers in the discipline. Rhodes was an impressive 10-1 in the final round to secure the top spot. Stuchbury went 20-3 overall to take third and was followed by
Evelyn Cheng (fourth) and
Sofia Gaydos (fifth).
Nagimov, who improved in each round, closed the tournament with a 9-2 mark in the final grouping to reach the podium for the second consecutive year after winning bronze in 2024. Kumbla improved his placing by one spot after going 16-5 throughout the competition.
Oxenreider went 9-2 in the final session to earn her first NCAA Regional medal.
Sophia Jakel took fifth,
Sumin Lee followed in sixth and
Mina Yamanaka finished ninth.
In men's epee, Haddad was consistent all day, picking up seven victories to close things out to take silver.
Skyler Liverant placed fourth and
Ethan Kushnerik was eighth.
All four members of men's sabre reached the finals, highlighted by Morrill's 15 victories on the day.
Jackson McBride was fourth,
Jaden Callahan placed sixth and
Nick Harvey finished in 10th.
Women's sabre was the first weapon to finish, with Gordon leading the way with an 18-5 mark on the day. She was joined in the final session by
Chloe Gouhin, who posted 11 victories for a 10th-place finish.
The 2024 NCAA Championships will be held from March 20-23 on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania.
For the latest on Columbia's fencing programs, follow @CULionsFencing on
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GoColumbiaLions.com.
COLUMBIA NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL RESULTS
Women's Sabre
Tamar Gordon (3rd Place)
Chloe Gouhin (10th Place)
Janna Freedman (13th Place)
Madison Four-Garcia (27th Place)
Men's Sabre
Will Morrill (2nd Place)
Jackson McBride (4th Place)
Jaden Callahan (6th Place)
Nick Harvey (10th Place)
Women's Foil
Zander Rhodes (1st Place)
Carolina Stuchbury (3rd Place)
Evelyn Cheng (4th Place)
Sofia Gaydos (5th Place)
Men's Foil
Marsel Nagimov (1st Place)
Sam Kumbla (3rd Place)
Zach Binder (14th Place)
Enoch Xiao (24th Place)
Women's Epee
Tierna Oxenreider (1st Place)
Sophia Jakel (5th Place)
Sumin Lee (6th Place)
Mina Yamanaka (9th Place)
Men's Epee
Justin Haddad (2nd Place)
Skyler Liverant (4th Place)
Ethan Kushnerik (8th Place)
Luka Loncar (19th Place)
