Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Have Impressive Showing at NCAA Championships
August 18, 1999 | Men's Fencing
March 20, 1999
WALTHAM, MASS - Princeton took nine fencers to this year's NCAA championships and walked away with a fifth place finish overall, with 102 total points. Five fencers finished in the Top 10 in their respective weapon.
Jason Burrell (Jr., Bethesda, Md.), who captured the silver medal at the IFA's, was the Tigers' top finisher, claiming fifth place in the men's epee event, winning 16 of 23 bouts. Co-captain Marco Acerra (Sr., Cailfon, N.J.) finished ninth, going 14-9 in the epee competition.
Captain Caitlin Rich (Sr., Wyckoff, N.J.) won nine of 14 bouts to give her the eight spot in the women's epee event. Maya Lawrence (Fr., Teaneck, N.J.), the 1999 IFA epee champion and 1999 under-20 U.S. Junior Olympic epee champion, went 6-8 on the day, good for thirteenth overall.
The eight/thirteen finish was popular for the Tigers as Max Pekarev (Sr., Fair Lawn, N.J.), NCAA sabre champion three years ago, finished eighth and co-captain Marc Otten (Sr., Scarsdale, N.Y.) captured thirteenth place. Pekarev won 15 of the 23 bouts, while Otten saw victory in 12 bouts.
In men's foil, Dustin Reagan (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) was the third Princeton fencer to take the thirteenth spot, and Alex Nivelle (Fr., Rye, N.Y.), the IFA silver medalist, did slightly better, finishing in ninth place.
Women's foil was the only event that held one Princeton fencer, Lisa Leslie (So., Morristown, N.J.), in this year's competition. Leslie took sixteenth place overall, winning six of her 14 bouts.
Top 5 Teams MS MF ME WF WE TOTAL 1. Penn State 27 39 35 17 21 139 2. Notre Dame 32 21 25 21 19 118 T3. St. John's 28 32 38 2 10 110 T3. Stanford 4 37 25 23 21 110 5. Princeton 27 24 30 6 15 102