STANFORD, Calif. – The Cardinal men's and women's fencing teams wrap up regular-season competition this weekend, heading to Chicago for the Schiller Duals.
At last season's Northwestern Duals, the Stanford men went 9-2, while the women went 5-3. Earlier this season, the Cardinal upset No. 5 Northwestern 17-10 at the Western Invitational
The trip to Illinois reprents the Cardinal's final tuneup before the postseason, with the ACC Championships starting on Saturday, Feb. 22 in North Carolina.
FOIL LEADING THE WAY » The Cardinal men's and women's foil squads have been leading the way to start the season. The men's side has gone 8-2 to open the season, while the women have opened at an 11-3 clip.
LAST TIME OUT » Stanford competed at the Western Invitational two weeks ago, with the women's team going 6-2 and the men's side going 4-2. Both teams upset No. 1 Harvard, and the women’s team added an upset of No. 5 Northwestern. The men's and women's foil teams combined to go a perfect 14-0, and the women's saber squad went 7-1.
KEY RETURNERS » The Cardinal returns four athletes that qualified for last season's NCAA Championships – Arianna Cao, Sanjay Kasi, Jared Hammerstrom and Second Team All-America selection Crystal Qian. The group started strong before the new year, led by Cao's 26-9.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS » The newcomers showed out in San Diego, led by freshman Renzo Fukuda (25-8) and grad transfer Benjamin Shih (22-12) combining to go 47-20 as the men's foil squad went 8-2 in the season's first two weekends.
STUDENT, OLYMPIAN, COACH » Massialas is back on The Farm in a new position as first-year head coach. Massialas boasts one of the most successful fencing careers in Cardinal history, as a two time individual NCAA Champion in the men's foil (2013, 2015) at Stanford, and a three-time Olympic medalist in four trips to the Olympic Games.