WALTHAM, Mass. — The Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) has announced its postseason selections and the Brandeis University Judges are once again well represented.
Head coach Bill Shipman and his staff, including assistants Arpad Horvath and Shuang Meng and armorer Al Merritt were named the men's coaching staff of the year. It is the fifth year in a row that Shipman was honored and the third in a row that the NFC recognized a Coaching Staff of the Year. For the second consecutive season, Shipman and his staff guided the Brandeis men to an undefeated NFC season, going 10-0 to win the team title. The Judges earned two narrow victories to claim the NFC title, including 15-12 wins over Brown and runner-up Boston College. The men also beat MIT, which tied BC for second, 16-11. The Brandeis women went 9-3 in NFC action and tied for third. Brandeis won a share of the combined conference championship, tying BC at 19-3. Shipman recently announced his retirement from Brandeis after 37 years as the team's head coach.
Junior Joanne Carminucci, of Brewster, N.Y., was a first-team honoree in foil after earning second-team honors the previous two seasons. Carminucci went 24-4, leading all women's foilists in winning percentage at 85.71%. The next highest winning percentage was 82.35%.
Senior Kyle Berney of Shreveport, La., was a second-team selection in sabre for the fourth consecutive year. Berney went 17-4, achieving the fourth-highest winning percentage of all men's sabre fencers, at 80.95%.
Berney was also the recipient of the Elliot Lilien Award, named after NFC founder, former Commissioner, and USA Fencing Hall of Fame-nominated coach Elliot Lilien. This award is given to "the fencer in the conference who shows exemplary sportsmanship and an excellent parry system." This is a sportsmanship award voted on by the conference coaches.