The 144-fencer field for the 2009 NCAA Fencing Championships included plenty of first-year participants – but there also were 10 battled-tested veterans (six men, four women) who were making their fourth appearance at the NCAAs (listed below).
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).
There also were 26 fencers in the 2010 NCAA field who were making their third appearance (listed at the bottom of this release) – with 18 of those fencers having the chance to return in 2011 as four-time NCAA entrants.
Four-Year NCAA Fencing Participants (2007-2010)
Fencers in bold italics indicate four-time All-Americans
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)
MEN'S FOIL (1)• John Gurrieri (Yale) ... 18th in '07, 13th in '08, 19th in '09, 23rd in '10
Peter French (left)
MEN'S EPEE (3)
• Slava Zingerman (Wayne State) ... champion in '07, '08 & '09, 7th in '10
• Dwight Smith (Columbia) ... placed 7th in '06, 4th in '07, 22nd in '09, 3rd in '10
• Peter French (Air Force) ... 14th in '07, 6th in '08, 7th in '09, runner-up in '10
Sam Roukas (left)
MEN'S SABRE (1)
• Sam Roukas (NYU) .., 22nd in '07, 7th in '08, 17th in '09, 14th in '10
Melissa Parker (left)
WOMEN'S FOIL (1)
• Melissa Parker (Temple) ... 9th in '07, 7th in '08, 14th in '09, 10th in '10
Christa French (left)
WOMEN'S EPEE (3)
• Nastia Ferdman (Penn St) ... 4th in '07, 6th in '08, 1st in '09, 3rd in '10
• Christa French (N'western) ... 6th in '07, 10th in '08, 7th in '09, 10th in '10
• Tanya Novakovska (St. John's) ... 5th in '07, 8th in '08 & '09, 13th in '10
Caity Thompson (left)
WOMEN'S SABRE (1)
• Caity Thompson (Penn St) ... 4th in '06, 2nd in '07, 11th in '09, 6th in '10
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).
Most/Least Veteran NCAA Weapon Fields (2010)
(Number indicates total of three- or four-year veterans in the 2010 field)
11 ... men's sabre
6 ... men's epee
6 ... women's sabre
5 ... women's foil
5 ... women's epee
2 ... men's foil
2 ... multi-weapons (MF/ME and WF/WE)
Three-Year NCAA Fencing Participants (2007-10)
Fencers in bold italics will be attempting to become three-time All-Americans
Julia Tikhonova (left)
MULTIPLE WEAPONS (1)
Julia Tikhonova (Ohio State) ...
w-foil 17th in '08
w-epee 11th in '09 & 17th in '10
Adam Pantel (left)
MEN'S FOIL (1)
Adam Pantel (Brown) ...
17th in '08, 11th in '09, 17th in '10
Graham Wicas (left)
MEN'S EPEE (3)
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