Attack, parry repost, second attack, counterattack, remiss, attack, touche, point.
These were some of the sounds heard this past weekend as the fencing team traveled to James Madison University to compete in the NCAA Regionals.
The Duke women's team was led by senior Jenn Brockett who placed eighth in foil. Brockett will most likely advance to Nationals at Notre Dame later this year. Brockett had made Regionals her first three years but had never advanced to Nationals.
"I had been training really hard this year," Brockett said. "It was my last year and I had never made it to nationals before. So after the opening rounds I knew I had to pour it on, if I wanted to make it to Nationals."
After the first three rounds, the 12 best fencers square off against each other in a round-robin format. Brockett finished 10th after the first three rounds, going 8-5. In the finals, Brockett went 4-7 against top competition, including the defending champion from Penn State, to finish eighth. The top six qualify for nationals but since each team can send a maximum of two people from each division and Penn State had four, Brockett moves up to sixth.
Other fencers for the women included junior Sarah Hamilton, who after placing eighth at Regionals and 18th at Nationals in foil last year, managed only a disappointing 14th. Katherine Nichols fenced well in epee and was ended up 20th. Sophomore Katherine Isyanik and freshman Beck Weathers, both epee fencers, finished 31st and 33rd respectively
The men's team sent three members to compete at James Madison.
The Blue Devils were led by junior foilist Bob Manchen. Manchen like Brockett placed eighth and most likely will qualify for Nationals. Also participating for the men was sophomore Mike Baughman. Baughman, who fences saber, placed 14th at Nationals and 10th at Regionals last year but was only able to manage to finish a 13th-place finish this year. Freshman foiler James Wright fenced well for her first time at Regionals and placed 19th
The next meet for Brockett and Manchen should be in Nationals at Notre Dame on March 19-22. Both fencers, if they are selected, should have an excellent opportunity to place well.
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