Twelve members of Duke's fencing team traveled to the Mid-Atlantic South Regional Championships this past weekend with the hopes of qualifying for the NCAA tournament finals later this year. Two returned with top-five finishes and automatic slots in the NCAAs, while two others will find out the status of their NCAA bids on March 15.
Juniors Jeremy Kahn and Paul Palmeri clinched places in the NCAA tournament with their outstanding performance last weekend. Kahn placed third overall in the epee event.
Due to the round robin nature of the men's competition, Kahn and two other fencers were tied for first place at the end with 10-4 records. A tie-breaking fence-off was held to determine individual placing.
"I'm very happy with [the tie for first place]," Kahn said. "There was no one that dominated."
Kahn hopes to be seeded fifth or higher entering the NCAAs. Palmeri fenced in the men's foil event and gained a fourth-place finish.
Junior G.P. Aroldi and freshman Sarah Hamilton hope to secure wild-card places in the tournament with their performances from the weekend. Aroldi placed 10th in the men's foil event, while Hamilton took 10th in the women's epee.
Head coach Alex Beguinet warns that the slots will be difficult to achieve. The competition for the at-large positions was "not very objective," and the two will be in competition with many others, including some who did not even appear at the regional competition.
"It will be tough, I really don't know what is going to happen," Beguinet said. "[There are] a lot of outside things that might affect G. P. and Sarah."
Aroldi was disappointed with the team's performances. He had hoped to see more Duke names in the NCAA tournament.
"Everybody should have qualified," said Aroldi.
Other high finishers included freshman Robert Manchen, sophomore Jennifer Brockett and junior Sarah Cairney. Manchen joined Palmeri and Aroldi in the men's foil event for a 12th-place finish. Brockett reached the second round in the women's foil, while Cairney reached the second round in women's epee. While Beguinet said that those three and the other Blue Devil competitors-Jonathan Stieber, Thomas Halleran, Ann Stewart, Mica Glod and Katherine Nichols-generally could have done better, he saw some performances that really impressed him.
"Sarah [Cairney] did well," Beguinet said. "Thomas started well but didn't finish strong. Katherine's was a good performance-she only started three months ago."
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