Sabre Fencers Lead the Way at 39th Annual Temple Open

Saturday, October 27

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

Temple University

Temple Open

Photo by: Nguyen Ho

Sabre Fencers Lead the Way at 39th Annual Temple Open

10.27.18 | Women's Fencing

Full Results

PHILADELPHIA - Junior Malia Hee earned a runner-up finish to lead a sabre squad that placed all five of its members in the top 12 at the 39th annual Temple Open. It was the first meet of the season for the Owls, who had four fencers place in the top eight overall and eight fencers earn top 12 finishes.

Meet Results
> Hee was Temple's top finisher overall with her second-place showing, just barely getting edged by a score of 15-13 in the sabre final.
> Senior and team captain Blessing Olaode placed fifth in sabre to earn her third top eight performance in four years (champion in 2015, runner-up in 2016).
> The eventual sabre champion, Daniella Timofeyev of Columbia, also bested Temple junior Kerry Plunkett who placed eighth.
> Sophomore Eva Hinds placed ninth for sabre, and senior Jessica Rockford placed 12th.
> Hinds, Olaode and Rockford were all undefeated through the two early pool rounds.
> The top foilist for Temple was junior Kennedy Lovelace who took sixth place for a second straight year. Lovelace was undefeated in the two pool rounds. Freshman Aryana Abtin tied for ninth in foil and senior Auset Muhammad placed 13th.
> In epee, senior Ally Micek was the Owls' top finisher in 12th place. Junior Camille Simmons was right behind her in 13th.

Quotable - Head Coach Dr. Nikki Franke
> "This is always a good meet. Everyone is excited to start the season and get the first meet under their belts. There were nerves and jitters, especially for our new people in their first collegiate meet. As the day progressed you could see them settling down and fencing better and better, and that's what we look for is that continued growth and improvement."

> "Malia fenced a great bout in the final. She got down, came back, got ahead and then the other girl came back so it was just a very good bout for gold. That was the true highlight of the day and the rest of the team was very supportive.

> "We would have liked to have had more finalists, but that's what we have to work towards."

Up Next
> Temple will compete in another individual meet, the Penn State Open, on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Temple Results
Epee (63 fencers)
Ally Micek, 12th
Camille Simmons, 13th
Fiona Fong, 21st
Marielle Luke, 23rd
Zahrah Dinkins, 25th

Foil (65 fencers)
Kennedy Lovelace, 6th
Aryana Abtin, t-9th
Auset Muhammad, 13th
Megan Ross, 18th
Cassie Navalta, 21st

Sabre (64 fencers)
Malia Hee, 2nd
Blessing Olaode, 5th
Kerry Plunkett, 8th
Eva Hinds, 9th
Jessica Rockford, 12th