Temple University Athletics
Five Fencers to Represent Temple at 2020 NCAA Championships
3.10.20 | Women's Fencing
PHILADELPHIA - For the first time since 2009, five fencers will represent the No. 5 Temple fencing team at the NCAA Championships. Senior Kerry Plunkett (sabre) will make her fourth-straight appearance, senior Malia Hee (sabre) will make her second, and Aryana Abtin (foil), Margherita Calderaro (epee), and Naomi Ross (epee) will make their first.
The selections were announced by the NCAA Men's and Women's Fencing Committee on Tuesday. The overall field has 144 competitors who will participate in 2020 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Fencing Championships. Twenty-Six member institutions will be represented at this year's fencing championships. University of Detroit Mercy and Detroit Sports Commission will co-host championships at TCF Center, Detroit, March 19-22, 2020.Â
Fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four finishers in each weapon will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the non-advancing fencers being awarded a tie for third place.
Plunkett set the all-time sabre win record at the end of the regular season, posting 238 career wins in dual play. She has competed at the NCAA Championships for the last three years, earning All-American Honorable Mention honors last year after finishing a career-best ninth-place. Last weekend, the West Linn, Ore., native earned a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Regionals.
Hee will cap her career in cherry and white with her second NCAA Championship appearance, having competed in the 2018 NCAA Championships. In 2018, Hee tied for second and first in touches at the regional meet and earned a 13th place finish at the NCAA Championships. The Vancouver, Wash., native came in second in in all-time sabre wins, with her 237 dual play wins narrowly being edged by Plunkett.
Abtin finished the season with a 49-24 record in dual play. Earning a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Regionals last weekend, she was one of two foilists to advance to the finals. The Hillsboro, Ore., had a career-high third-place finish at the Penn State Open in November.
Calderaro is the reigning NIWFAÂ epee individual title-holder,, helping the Owls sweep the team championship, the individual championship, and the weapon championships. The Rome, Italy native recorded a 39-15 dual play record and narrowly missed the podium at the NCAA Regionals with a fourth-place finish.
Rounding out the NCAA Championship qualifiers, Ross earned a seventh-place finish at regionals last weekend. She compiled a 50-23 dual play record for the second-most wins on the epee squad this season. An Aurora, Colo. native, she tied for third-place at the Penn State Open for the second-highest finish on the epee squad.
The qualification for the NCAA Championship is based on a formula comprising a 60 percent weight on regional performance and 40 percent on regular-season meets. Regional champions for each weapon automatically advance, with remaining bids going to fencers based on performance and the region they compete in. Each weapon's field is made up of just 24 total competitors.
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The selections were announced by the NCAA Men's and Women's Fencing Committee on Tuesday. The overall field has 144 competitors who will participate in 2020 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Fencing Championships. Twenty-Six member institutions will be represented at this year's fencing championships. University of Detroit Mercy and Detroit Sports Commission will co-host championships at TCF Center, Detroit, March 19-22, 2020.Â
Fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four finishers in each weapon will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the non-advancing fencers being awarded a tie for third place.
Plunkett set the all-time sabre win record at the end of the regular season, posting 238 career wins in dual play. She has competed at the NCAA Championships for the last three years, earning All-American Honorable Mention honors last year after finishing a career-best ninth-place. Last weekend, the West Linn, Ore., native earned a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Regionals.
Hee will cap her career in cherry and white with her second NCAA Championship appearance, having competed in the 2018 NCAA Championships. In 2018, Hee tied for second and first in touches at the regional meet and earned a 13th place finish at the NCAA Championships. The Vancouver, Wash., native came in second in in all-time sabre wins, with her 237 dual play wins narrowly being edged by Plunkett.
Abtin finished the season with a 49-24 record in dual play. Earning a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Regionals last weekend, she was one of two foilists to advance to the finals. The Hillsboro, Ore., had a career-high third-place finish at the Penn State Open in November.
Calderaro is the reigning NIWFAÂ epee individual title-holder,, helping the Owls sweep the team championship, the individual championship, and the weapon championships. The Rome, Italy native recorded a 39-15 dual play record and narrowly missed the podium at the NCAA Regionals with a fourth-place finish.
Rounding out the NCAA Championship qualifiers, Ross earned a seventh-place finish at regionals last weekend. She compiled a 50-23 dual play record for the second-most wins on the epee squad this season. An Aurora, Colo. native, she tied for third-place at the Penn State Open for the second-highest finish on the epee squad.
The qualification for the NCAA Championship is based on a formula comprising a 60 percent weight on regional performance and 40 percent on regular-season meets. Regional champions for each weapon automatically advance, with remaining bids going to fencers based on performance and the region they compete in. Each weapon's field is made up of just 24 total competitors.
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Players Mentioned
Foil
/ Women's Fencing
Epee
/ Women's Fencing
Sabre
/ Women's Fencing
Sabre
/ Women's Fencing
Epee
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