UNC 24th Overall At NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 22

University Park, Pa.

8:00 AM

North Carolina

NCAA Championship (Women)

Justine de Grass represented UNC at the NCAA Championships, placing 22nd in women's epee (Photo by Camille Simmons).

March 25, 2018 | Fencing

Complete Results

By: UNC Athletic Communications

UNC sophomore Justine de Grasse placed 22nd nationally in women's epee and the Tar Heels finished 24th in the team standings at the NCAA Fencing Championships, which wrapped up Sunday in University Park, Pa.

De Grasse and the women's field fenced on Thursday and Friday, before the men's competition took place on Saturday and Sunday. It was her first trip to the championships, and proved to be a learning experience.

"The whole experience was reassuring and humbling, seeing the strength of the competition and the overall field," de Grasse said. "I was amongst past and future world champions, world team members, and Olympians. But I was one of the 24 in woman's epee to make it and one of 144 total athletes. All and all I had a great season with earning bronze at ACCs and winning the ACC team championship, but qualifying was icing on the cake."

Notre Dame, which UNC beat for the Atlantic Coast Conference women's championship last month, won the team championship, which is a combined title for the men's and women's teams. The Irish finished with 185 total points, ahead of Columbia and Ohio State. For the complete list of team scores, click here.

This year marked the 51st season in a row, the entirety of coach Ron Miller's tenure at the school, that the Tar Heels have sent at least one fencer to NCAA Championships. After a strong performance at NCAA Regionals, de Grasse reached the field via an at large bid, with several other Tar Heels just missing the cut.

"There were so many on the team that should have been there with me but fencing is always unpredictable and out region is very challenging," said de Grasse, a biomedical engineering major from Denver, Colo. "This season was exhausting but I think with my first NCAAs under my belt I'm ready to take on next season and see what I'm capable of and what I can bring to this team."