STANFORD, Calif. – The Cardinal men's and women's fencing teams head to the NCAA Western Regionals this weekend, hosted by Air Force. Last month Stanford competed in the program's first ACC Championships at North Carolina, with Alexander Jeon and Renzo Fukuda taking home hardware.
The competition will be the last opportunity for Cardinal fencers to qualify for NCAA National Championships in two weeks.
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 went 20-4 on the season, while the women went 24-4. At the ACC Championships, the women's foil group went 4-0 in team competitions.
ACC MEDALISTS » Sophomore Alexander Jeon and freshman Renzo Fukuda earned ACC medals two weeks ago. Jeon took second in men's epee, while Fukuda finished third in men's foil. Ellan Wang narrowly missed a spot on the podium in women's foil, finishing fourth.
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.
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.