Tar Heels Compete At Regionals, Await NCAA Word

Members of the North Carolina men's and women's fencing teams competed at NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals Saturday in Easton, Pa., capping the season for most and earning a possible trip to the NCAA Championships for two.

Sophomore Justine de Grasse (women's epee) and junior Connor Ritchey (men's sabre) emerged from the competition with regional at-large nominations to the championships and are waiting to hear in the next few days whether they'll be selected. The NCAA Championships are set for March 22-25 in University Park, Pa. The Tar Heels have had at least one competitor in each of the past 50 years.

De Grasse, Ritchey and Jacob Henkels (men's epee) all made the finals (top 12) in their respective weapons. De Grasse was 11th and Henkels and Ritchey were 12th.

For full results, click here.

"Overall we did as predicted by the seeding, but we had some bad luck statistically," UNC coach Ron Miller said.

Sophomores Jackie Litynski (women's sabre) and Georgina Summers (women's epee) had the highest seeds going into the event, and both won enough bouts in the semifinals to reach the finals. Fate, however, was not kind to them when it came to resolving ties on bouts won. Both missed advancing to the finals based on touch indicators (touches scored minus touches received), and three other Tar Heels ended their days the same way. Matthew Garrelick in men's sabre and Charles Roth in men's epee also missed the finals on indicators, as did Sydney Persing in women's foil going into the semifinals.

Weapon squads and individuals with few exceptions finished near or above their seeding. Men's epee had Henkels in 12th, Roth 13th, senior Matthew Shlimak 16th and freshman Joe Taylor 35th, finishing +12 as a squad.

Men's sabre had three above seed out of four and finished +1 as a squad. After Ritchey in 12th came Garrelick in 13th, freshman Firoz George 20th and freshman Bernard Witek 22nd.

The entire women's foil lineup finished within three of seed, and two – Wei Chee Chen and Carlexa Fevry – were one bout away from being in contention for the finals. The squad finished -1 overall with Chen 16th, Fevry 17th, Persing 19th and Sylvia Zhu 36th.

Men's foil was -3 overall with Connor Costa 24th and Brian Lee tied for 28th.

Women's sabre missed two-time NCAA Championships qualifier Meredith Bozentka, who was unable to compete due to injury. After Litynski in 15th, Clara Somfelean was 25th and Alexis Lynch was 36th.

In women's epee, Summers just missed the final at 13th, Samantha Galina was 21st, Elli Moreno was 22nd and Erin O'Neill was 32nd.

In taking stock of the event, Miller noted in particular the performance of the women's team walk-ons, Lynch and Zhu, who both finished at the bottom of the weapon results but gained valuable experience for the future. "It should be noted that in order to qualify they were in the top 36 out of nearly 100 athletes in their respective weapons in our region," Miller said.

NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional
UNC results
Men's Foil
24. Connor Costa
T28: Brian Lee
Men's Epee
12. Jacob Henkels
13. Charles Roth
16. Matthew Shlimak
35. Joe Taylor
Men's Sabre
12. Connor Ritchey
13. Matthew Garrelick
20. Firoz George
22. Bernard Witek
Women's Foil
16. Wei Chee Chen
17. Carlexa Fevry
19. Sydney Persing
36. Sylvia Zhu
Women's Epee
11. Justine de Grasse
13. Georgina Summers
21. Samantha Galina
22. Elli Moreno
32. Erin O'Neill
Women's Sabre
14. Jackie Litynski
25. Clara Somfelean
36. Alexis Lynch

Players Mentioned

Meredith Bozentka

Wei Chee Chen

Connor Costa

Justine de Grasse

Carlexa Fevry

Samantha Galina

Matthew Garrelick

Firoz George

Jacob Henkels

Brian Lee

Jackie Litynski

Alexis Lynch

Erin O'Neill

Sydney Persing

Connor Ritchey

Charles Roth

Matthew Shlimak

Clara Somfelean

Georgina Summers

Joe Taylor

Bernard Witek

Sylvia Zhu

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