Fencing: Northwestern rounds out season with third-place finish in the NCAA Championships

For the third year in a row, three Northwestern fencers were elected to the All-American team, this time part of a program-best third-place finish on March 28.

First-year Sky Miller put together an incredible season, as she was named an All-American and came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed in saber. While she was upset in the finals by Notre Dame’s Kara Linder, her second place finish is the best in program history.

Senior Justine Banbury and sophomore Anna Biasco were also named to the All-American team. Biasco finished seventh in foil and Banbury finished eighth.

The growing success of the program did not go unnoticed nationally either. Head coach Zach Moss and assistant coach Dennis Kolakowski were named Central Collegiate Fencing Conference Coach and Assistant Coach of the year, respectively. This is Moss’ second time receiving the award.

Outside of the three All-Americans, Northwestern sent Ilsa Hoffman, Julia Falinska and Blodwen Bindas to the national competition. Hoffman finished No. 14 in the saber competition. Falinska and Bindas both took part in the epée division, where they finished No. 13 and No. 15, respectively.

Northwestern projects to be just as successful for next season. They return five of their six national competitors, including both Biasco and Miller. The ‘Cats trajectory towards becoming a national powerhouse continues to rise.