Blog
Plenty of Video Interviews on the Way ...
CF360 founder/editor Pete LaFleur visited with several fencers and coaches during the NCAAs, with several video interviews "in the can" and now ready to be rolled out as another exclusive here at CollegeFencing360:
NOTE – Many of these videos were shot in FULL-HD and then re-packaged for online viewing. To view a video, simply click on the link and then wait for the video to download (time varies, typically between 15-60 seconds, based on your computer's connection speed). ... It's worth the wait, as this ensures a higher-quality video (once downloaded, a video will load right away if you wish to replay it).
TEAM CHAMPIONS – The following interviews with members of the NCAA champion Penn State team will be posted over the next few days:
• Head coach Emic Kaidonov alongside longtime assistant coach/sabre specialist Wes Glon . . .
CLICK HERE for hi-res/640 version (remember to allow for download time)
CLICK HERE for lo-res/320 version
• Two-time NCAA women's foil champion Doris Willette alongside her younger brother, foilist David Willette, in an exclusive side-by-side interview (both of the Willette siblings were the 2010 NCAA runner-up in their respective weapons) . . .
CLICK HERE for higher-res/640 version
CLICK HERE for lower-res/320 version
NCAA Fencing - Historical List #6 (4-timers; 2010 update)
The 11 fencers at the 2010 NCAAs who were four-time NCAA entrants came from all six weapons, led by three in men's epee (not including one multi-weapon career participant) and two women's epeeists. The 10 included three from Penn State, along with fencers from Yale, Wayne State, Columbia, Air Force, NYU, Temple, Norhwestern and St. John's
Five of the "four-timers" also were four-time All-Americans (top-12 NCAA finish), led by Wayne State men's epeeist Slava Zingerman (the '07-'09 NCAA champion), along with Northwestern women's epeeist Christa French and three from Penn State: multi-weapon talent Nick Chinman (foil '07-'09, epee '10), women's epeeist Nastia Ferdman and women's sabreist Caity Thompson. Ferdman impressively finished in the top-6 all four years (4th-6th-1st-3rd, from '07-'10) while Thompson competed as a graduate/5th-year student this season (she did not fence for PSU in 2008, due to Olympic qualification).
MULTIPLE WEAPONS (1)
• Nick Chinman (Penn State) ...
m-foil 5th in '07, 4th in '08, 1st in '09
m-epee 3rd in '10
John Gurrieri (left)
Peter French (left)
• Tanya Novakovska (St. John's) ... 5th in '07, 8th in '08 & '09, 13th in '10
Caity Thompson (left)
Note that several of the fencers listed on this page took off one year (or two) from college fencing, in order to focus on Olympic qualification. Those fencers include Columbia men's epeeist Dwight Smith and Penn state women's sabreist Caity Thompson (both did not fence in '08 college bouts).
The second list below shows the 26 fencers who made their third appearance at the NCAAs in 2010 – with 18 of those fencers (non-seniors) likely to be making their fourth trips to the NCAAs one year from now (in 2011).
11 ... men's sabre
6 ... men's epee
6 ... women's sabre
5 ... women's foil
5 ... women's epee
2 ... multi-weapons (MF/ME and WF/WE)
Julia Tikhonova (left)
w-foil 17th in '08
w-epee 11th in '09 & 17th in '10
17th in '08, 11th in '09, 17th in '10
Alexis Landreville (St. John's) ... 16th in '07, 18th in '09, 10th in '10
*Daniel Trapani (Air Force) ... 14th in '08, 5th in '09, 22nd in '10
*Graham Wicas (Princeton) ... 3rd in '08, 2nd in '09, 20th in '10
* – one year of eligibility remaining
NCAA Fencing - Historical List #5 ("old reliable" weapon groups; 2010 update)
(reminder: please credit CollegeFencing360.com's research, if using this data for publication or on other websites.)
This updated blog post (yet another CF360 exclusive) is sure to interest avid followers of certain teams, as well as fans of college fencing as a whole. Former fencers who are included on these lists also may take a walk down memory lane, as they scan the various names of their former teammates and former opponents.
The complete lists (at the very bottom of this post) highlight the fencing programs that have sent the most fencers (20, 21 of the max. 22) to the NCAAs, during the 11-year period since women's sabre made its debut at the NCAA Championships in 2000.
There are 26 "elite weapon groups" included below, and they break down as follows (note that the max. one school could qualify was 22 total fencers in a weapon, from 2000-10):
WEAPON GROUPS WITH 20-22 NCAA ENTRANTS DURING 2000-10
• All six weapons from Notre Dame and Penn State
• Four weapon groups from both St. John's (MS, ME, WF, WS) and Columbia (MF, MS, WF, WE)
• Two weapon groups from Ohio State (ME, MS)
• One each from Harvard (WF), Northwestern (WF), Penn (MF) and Princeton (ME)
• Six different women's foil 11-year groups
• Five each from both men's epee and men's sabre
• Four in men's foil
• Three each in women's epee and women's sabre
• Various schools have combined to produce a combined total of 10 weapon groups with 22 NCAA entrants from 2000-10
• There have been seven other 21-entrant weapon groups over the past 11 years
• And there are nine more weapon groupings with 20 entrants, since women's sabre's debut
... Here are the "old reliables" – the 11 weapon groups that have posted "100% NCAA Championship attendance" (22 of 22) during the past 11 years:
NCAA Fencing - Historical List #4 (2010 update)
(reminder: please credit CollegeFencing360.com's research, if using this data for publication or on other websites.)
Collegiate women's fencing gained equal footing with the men starting in 2000, when women's sabre first became part of the NCAA Championships. The list below shows the 14 fencing programs that have qualified the most NCAA entrants during the women's sabre era (2000-10).
Northwestern has sent the sixth-most women's fencers (51) to the NCAAs over the past 11 years, ranking ahead of such noteworthy programs as Stanford and several top Ivy League teams (most notably Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale).
Temple is tied for ninth among the schools with the most NCAA women's fencer entrants since 2000, ahead of upper-level teams Yale and Stanford. Cornell (21) rounds out the group of 14 schools that have sent 21-plus women's fencers to the NCAAs in the women's-sabre era.
Most NCAA Fencing Championship Women's Entrants
(women's sabre era; 2000-10 .... max. is 66 per team)
65 – Notre Dame ... one WE in 2007
64 – Penn State ... one WE in 2001, one WS in 2008
61 – St. John's ... one WF in 2000, one WE in '03, no WE in '04, one WF in '09
57 – Columbia
52 – Ohio State
51 – Northwestern (does not sponsor varsity men's fencing team
46 – Harvard
44 – Princeton
43 – Penn
42 – Temple (does not sponsor varsity men's fencing team)
31 – Yale
29 – Stanford
23 – Wayne State
21 – Cornell (does not sponsor varsity men's fencing team)
NCAA Fencing - Historical List #3 (2010 update)
(reminder: please credit CollegeFencing360.com's research, if using this data for publication or on other websites.)
Here's the update of CF360's exclusive breakdown the 1,585 NCAA fencing entrants in the six-weapon era (2000-10).
NCAA Fencing Championship Entrants (Six-Weapon Era; 2000-10)
128 – Penn State
122 – St. John's
112 – Columbia
111 – Ohio State
91 – Princeton
86 – Penn
85 – Harvard
81 – Stanford
61 – Yale
51 – Northwestern (women's team only)
50 – NYU
46 – Air Force
44 – Wayne State
44 – Duke
42 – Temple (women's team only)
37 – Rutgers (no longer sponsors varsity fencing)
33 – UC San Diego
33 – North Carolina
27 – Brandeis
26 – MIT
23 – Brown
21 – Cornell (women's team only)
17 – Cal State Fullerton (no longer sponsors varsity fencing)
12 – Johns Hopkins
12 – Boston College
8 – Haverford
8 – Cleveland State
6 – Drew
6 – Tufts (women's team only)
6 – Vassar
5 – Fairleigh Dickinson (women's team only)
5 – Sacred Heart
3 – Detroit
3 – James Madison (no longer sponsors varsity fencing)
3 – Cal Tech
2 – Lawrence
2 – NJIT
1 – Hunter
1 – Stevens Tech
1 – Wellesley (women's team only)
All but four of the current NCAA varsity fencing programs (CCNY, Lafayette, Queens College and Yeshiva) have sent at least one fencer to the NCAAs over the past 11 years.
NCAA Fencing - Historical List #2 (2010 update)
(reminder: please credit CollegeFencing360.com's research, if using this data for publication or on other websites.)
YEAR-BY-YEAR NCAA ENTRANTS (top-9 teams; 6-weapon era, 2000-10)
NOTRE DAME
2000 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2001 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2002 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2003 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2004 – 11 ..... 2 MF-1 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2005 – 11 ..... 1 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2006 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2007 – 11 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-1 WE-2 WS
2008 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2009 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2010 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
Tot. ....129 ..21 MF-21 ME-22 MS .. 22 WF-21 WE-22 WS (64 men, 65 women)
PENN STATE
2000 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2001 – 11 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-1 WE-2 WS
2002 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2003 – 11 ..... 2 MF-1 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2004 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2005 – 11 ..... 2 MF-1 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2006 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2007 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2008 – 11 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-1 WS
2009 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
2010 – 12 ..... 2 MF-2 ME-2 MS ..... 2 WF-2 WE-2 WS
Tot. ....128 ..22 MF-20 ME-22 MS .. 22 WF-21 WE-21 WS (64 men, 64 women)