Temple University fencing sent 12 fencers to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional on Saturday in Durham, North Carolina. Nine of the 12 Owls advanced to the finals in their weapon and senior Malia Hee took the silver in sabre.
“It was a very good weekend for the team,” coach Nikki Franke said. “This is a very strong region that we’re in so to get nine people in the finals, I was very pleased with their performance. Hopefully that’ll carry over and we’ll get quite a few bids for the NCAA championships.”
Hee’s second-place finish was the highest of the day for the Owls. Freshman Margherita Calderaro just missed out on the podium in epee as she finished in fourth place.
Senior Kerry Plunkett and sophomore Aryana Abtin each finished in fifth place in sabre and foil respectively. Sophomore Naomi Ross scored a seventh-place finish in epee.
Freshman Zoe Turner and redshirt-senior Quinn Duwelius each took 10th-place finishes in sabre and epee respectively. Juniors Marielle Luke and Megan Ross finished in 12th place in epee and foil.
“We would’ve liked to get everyone in a final of course, but for the most part everyone performed well,” Franke said. “We had a couple of people who underperformed and that’s unfortunate but that’s what happens. It’s a tough, one-day tournament and if that one day isn’t your day, there’s not much you can do about it. But everybody fought and tried their best. The effort was there, so it’s just a matter of how things ended up.”
Franke and the Owls will now wait for the selections to be made for the NCAA Championships on Tuesday. The Championship meet will take place March 19 and 20 in Detroit, Michigan.
Last year, the Owls sent three fencers to the national meet but Franke is hoping for more this year.
“I’m expecting to have more than three go this year,” Franke said.
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