MADISON, N.J. – The Brandeis University women's fencing team placed fourth in the overall standings in their first trip to the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA) Championships at Drew University. Their finish included one silver and one bronze medal performance.

Once again, the Judges were paced by the saber squad, as the team of senior Jada Harrison (Jericho, N.Y. / Jericho), junior Maggie Shealy (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) and first-year Kayla Turnof (Westfield, N.J. / Kent Place School) posted 29 wins, trailing only ninth-ranked Temple in the standings, and one ahead of Stevens Tech and three in front of NYU.

Shealy and Turnof qualified for the individual competition as the second and fifth seeds, respectively. Turnof was upset in the first round, 15-3, by an opponent from Smith. Shealy knocked off an opponent from Temple, 15-8, in the first round and posted a 15-7 win over Stevens to make the medal round. In the semifinals, she was edged, 15-13, by another Temple opponent, Emma Pincus, who went on win the gold.

In other team competition, the foil squad finished sixth and the epee squad placed seventh. In the individual epee competition, first-year Bronwyn Rothman-Hall (San Francisco, Calif. / Ruth Asawa School of the Arts) and junior Monica Aponte (San Juan, P.R. / St. John's School) were each eliminated in the first round by an eventual finalist. Rothman-Hall lost to gold medalist Laura Fekete of Long Island University, 15-9, while Aponte fell to eventual runner-up Sarah Gresham of William & Mary, 15-13. In the foil elimination round, first-year Alex McKee (Nyack, N.Y. / Nyack) nabbed the second seed, but was upset in the first round by Temple' Gretl Merges, 15-10.  

The Judges return to action next Sunday afternoon with the 2022 NCAA Regionals at Vassar College.