MADISON, N.J. (March 9, 2024) – Juniors Arianna Daringa and Nicholas Smith were the top finishers for the Stevens Institute of Technology men's and women's fencing teams Saturday at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals, hosted by Drew University.

Daringa finished 29th at sabre to lead the Ducks' nine-fencer women's contingent, while Smith was 21st at epee to the Ducks' 12-fencer men's group. The Mid-Atlantic Region is one of four NCAA regions, where schools can qualify up to 12 fencers per gender per school for the regional competition, based on their results from the regular season. The tournament format consisted of series of pool rounds that ultimately cut the field in each weapon to a final pool round of 12, where every fencer then faces every other remaining competitor. The NCAA Regionals count for 60 percent of the score necessary for a fencer to make it to nationals. The other 40 percent is determined by the fencer's season record. 

"I am really proud of the way everyone fenced today," head coach Jim Carpenter said. "Our group really held their own against some of the toughest teams and some of the best fencers in the country."

Princeton swept the men's epee results, with Tristan Szapary winning gold, Nicholas Lawson earning silver and Alec Brooke claiming bronze. Johns Hopkins' Jorge Gana was the top Division III fencer after placing seventh. The University of Pennsylvania claimed the top-two spots in men's foil, with Blake Broszus earning the gold medal, while Bryce Louis took silver. Princeton's David Prilutsky finished third to earn the bronze medal. Johns Hopkins' Alan Zheng placed ninth as the top DIII fencer. Rounding out the weapons, Penn State's Neil Lilov finished first to win the gold medal, while UPenn's Gian Dhingra and Princeton's Andrew Johnson finished second and third, respectively. Johns Hopkins' William Hu finished seventh as the top DIII fencer.

Princeton's Jessica Lin won the women's epee gold medal, while Johns Hopkins' Diya Kulkarni took second, also making her the highest-placing Division III fencer of the entire regional meet. Duke's Rachel Kowalsky took third to earn the bronze medal. Duke's Charlotte Koenig earned the gold medal at foil for the Blue Devils' highest finisher. Penn State's Samantha Catantan finished second for the silver medal, while UPenn's Katina Proestakis Ortiz won bronze. Johns Hopkins' three finalists finished 17-19 for the weapon's top-placing DIII finishes. Rounding out the women's weapons, Princeton took first and third in sabre as Ryan Jenkins won the gold medal and Tatiana Nazlymov won bronze. Sandwiched between the two Tigers was North Carolina's Sophia Kovacs, who took silver. Victoria Li of Johns Hopkins placed 16th as the highest DIII entrant. 

First-year Noah Tumibay led the Ducks through the first epee pool, winning all six of his matches, including wins over fencers from Wagner, North Carolina and Duke, to post the best winning percentage in the opening round. Graduate student Patrick Pan joined the Ducks' first-year in advancing out of the opening round, as did Smith, after posting a positive touch margin. Smith and Pan would each go on to win a pair of bouts in the second pool before bowing out of the tournament.

Junior Colin Mahoney led the Ducks at sabre, finishing 22nd. The third-year fencer won four of his six matches (with a +3-touch margin) to advance out of the opening pool. Graduate student Dylan Woodward led the Ducks in the opening sabre pool with four wins and +10 mark in touches to tie for fourth place. First-year Cyrus Erachshaw joined Mahoney and Woodward in advancing out of the weapon's opening pool. Mahoney and Woodward each won twice in the second pool and bowed out of the tournament. 

On the women's side, graduate student Claire McNeill led the Ducks' epee squad, winning three matches before her historic career came to a close. A multi-time placer at the NIWFA and EWFC championships, McNeill won a total of 298 countable matches in her career, which is believed to be the second-best total among all three of Stevens' weapon groups. She closes her time on Castle Point as the career wins leader in epee.  

At sabre, Daringa finished 3-3 in her opening pool and out-touched her opponents 23-17 to advance to the second pool. Of her three wins, two came against opponents from Wagner and North Carolina. Daringa was joined in the second pool by junior Alyssa Ip. 

Finally, over at foil, sophomore Emily Zgombic was the Ducks' top finisher, winning a pair of matches before her day ended. First-year Akemi Rodriguez and junior Elizabeth MacDonald each won a bout in their respective opening pool before falling from the tournament. 

First-year Riley Parker, sophomores Andrew Yurovchak, James Glover and Nicholas Reznick, along with junior John Morreale and senior Christopher Stone, also competed at regionals, but did not advance from the opening pool. On the women's side, first-year Grace Hicks, senior Jasmine Chen and junior Renny Victoria also competed but did not advance. Of the group, Reznick, Parker and Morreale each won three bouts in their opening pool.

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