Temple University Athletics
Thursday, March 20
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Temple University
at
NCAA Championships
Photo by: Cameron Resnick
Temple Fencing Takes Eighth at NCAA Championships; Tiki Kastor Earns All-America Honors
3.21.14 | Women's Fencing
COLUMBUS, Ohio - With one All-American in Tiki Kastor and three other strong competitors, the Temple fencing team took eighth place among all women's teams at the 2014 NCAA Championships. It is the highest finish for the Owls since placing eighth in 2009.
With a seventh-place finish in sabre, Kastor, a junior, earned All-America second team honors and became the Owls' first All-America honoree in two years. She earned victories in 15 of her 23 bouts and had a stellar finish, winning six of her final seven.
"Finishing eighth was really very good for us," said Temple head coach Nikki Franke, concluding her 42nd season with the Owls. "I'm very pleased overall. We only had one senior so we had some youth there, and they handled the high pressure really well."
Kastor narrowly missed out on All-America honors as a sophomore, tying for 11th and placing 14th overall. She has now been Temple's highest finisher at the NCAA Championships two years in a row.
"We haven't had an All-American since Kamali Thompson (in 2012)," said Franke, "so having Tiki earn it is really great. She had an outstanding two days, and fenced very strong. It was some of the best I've seen from her. It was great to see her put everything together and take control of her bouts."
As a team, Temple won 41 bouts out of a possible 92. The Owls edged out rival Columbia by one win. Princeton took the team title with 87 wins, followed by Penn State with 86 and Ohio State with 81. Temple came out ahead of two other teams that also had four qualifiers, Columbia (ninth) and Penn (11th). The Owls also finished ahead of Northwestern, who placed 10th and had five qualifiers at the meet. Only one team with fewer qualifiers, Stanford with three, came out ahead of Temple in seventh place.
In epee, senior Chantal Montrose and freshman Rachael Clark placed 16th and 19th overall, respectively. Montrose tied for 13th, winning 10 of her 23 bouts, while Clark tied for 18th with nine wins in 23 bouts. The final placings are determined by total touches earned.
"Coming back here as a senior, Chantal was very poised and showed a lot of maturity," said Franke. "She helped Rachael see how to handle the kind of pressure they were under, and they helped each other. It was nice to see Chantal do so well. For Rachael to get nine wins as a freshman, that's a very good showing for her first time here."
Sophomore Fatima Largaespada tied for 18th in foil, placing 19th overall with seven wins in 23 bouts. She finished the meet strong with wins against her final two opponents.
"Fatima learned a lot," said Franke, who serves as the foil coach. "She never gave up and she fenced very hard and earned a better finish than last year. For her to be here each of her first two years says a lot."
Assistant coach Anastasia Ferdman is the Owls' epee coach, while volunteer assistant Josh Herring is the sabre coach. Franke said all of them were pleased with the performance of their athletes. "They just fenced very hard and never gave up," said Franke, "and that's all we can ask of them."
"Finishing eighth was really very good for us," said Temple head coach Nikki Franke, concluding her 42nd season with the Owls. "I'm very pleased overall. We only had one senior so we had some youth there, and they handled the high pressure really well."
Kastor narrowly missed out on All-America honors as a sophomore, tying for 11th and placing 14th overall. She has now been Temple's highest finisher at the NCAA Championships two years in a row.
"We haven't had an All-American since Kamali Thompson (in 2012)," said Franke, "so having Tiki earn it is really great. She had an outstanding two days, and fenced very strong. It was some of the best I've seen from her. It was great to see her put everything together and take control of her bouts."
As a team, Temple won 41 bouts out of a possible 92. The Owls edged out rival Columbia by one win. Princeton took the team title with 87 wins, followed by Penn State with 86 and Ohio State with 81. Temple came out ahead of two other teams that also had four qualifiers, Columbia (ninth) and Penn (11th). The Owls also finished ahead of Northwestern, who placed 10th and had five qualifiers at the meet. Only one team with fewer qualifiers, Stanford with three, came out ahead of Temple in seventh place.
In epee, senior Chantal Montrose and freshman Rachael Clark placed 16th and 19th overall, respectively. Montrose tied for 13th, winning 10 of her 23 bouts, while Clark tied for 18th with nine wins in 23 bouts. The final placings are determined by total touches earned.
"Coming back here as a senior, Chantal was very poised and showed a lot of maturity," said Franke. "She helped Rachael see how to handle the kind of pressure they were under, and they helped each other. It was nice to see Chantal do so well. For Rachael to get nine wins as a freshman, that's a very good showing for her first time here."
Sophomore Fatima Largaespada tied for 18th in foil, placing 19th overall with seven wins in 23 bouts. She finished the meet strong with wins against her final two opponents.
"Fatima learned a lot," said Franke, who serves as the foil coach. "She never gave up and she fenced very hard and earned a better finish than last year. For her to be here each of her first two years says a lot."
Assistant coach Anastasia Ferdman is the Owls' epee coach, while volunteer assistant Josh Herring is the sabre coach. Franke said all of them were pleased with the performance of their athletes. "They just fenced very hard and never gave up," said Franke, "and that's all we can ask of them."
Strip 1 - Coach Nikki Franke Classic '25 - Men's Saber - T4
Monday, October 27
Strip 8 - Coach Nikki Franke Classic '25 - Men's Saber - DEs
Monday, October 27
Strip 16 - Coach Nikki Franke Classic '25 - Men's Foil - T4
Monday, October 27
Strip 1 - Coach Nikki Franke Classic '25 - Men's Foil - T4
Monday, October 27
