Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

prototoast · 03-09-2005, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KShan5[PrFC]

Does anyone know the specifics on how you qualify for the NCAA champs btw?

I can tell you how NOT to qualify for nationals... seed pretty well at regionals, roll your ankle on the second bout of the day, beat the top fencer in the northeast to make it to the third round of pools, then lose 4-5 to a fencer you can normally beat to miss out on the top 10, and ultimately miss qualifying by 1 spot...

or at least that's what worked for me.

mackillian · 03-09-2005, 10:12 AM

I ask because I'm a graduate student and applying for PhD programs and wondered if I'd be eligible to compete or be on a team or something. Right now I'm at UNH and UNH has a club, but I don't know on what level they compete.

And Kerry Walton started out at my fencing club...her mom was my beginning fencing instructor!

DHCJr · 03-09-2005, 12:30 PM

If they are a club, you can probably compete. If they are NCAA, probably not, unless you went through your undergraduate and masters program in record time. I am guessing you started college in the 90's, which would make you unelligible for NCAA. The other problem is did you change schools. The other rule, I didn't mention, to compete in a NCAA program after you graduate is to continue in the same school for your post-graduate.

For your sake, I hope they only have a club.

noodle · 03-09-2005, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackillian

I ask because I'm a graduate student and applying for PhD programs and wondered if I'd be eligible to compete or be on a team or something. Right now I'm at UNH and UNH has a club, but I don't know on what level they compete.

And Kerry Walton started out at my fencing club...her mom was my beginning fencing instructor!

wow. maye you should go look at unh's club then huh?

mackillian · 03-09-2005, 01:33 PM

I could, but it would mean leaving my club, or fencing there less. I dunno. I'll take to my private lesson coach about it. My club's head coach used to be head coach at UNH, but had a huge falling out with their current coach, so I think his opinion would be a BIT biased.

TooLoftheDeviL · 03-09-2005, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackillian

I ask because I'm a graduate student and applying for PhD programs and wondered if I'd be eligible to compete or be on a team or something. Right now I'm at UNH and UNH has a club, but I don't know on what level they compete.

And Kerry Walton started out at my fencing club...her mom was my beginning fencing instructor!

It's that 5 year rule that's probably going to snag you, unless you really did go from college freshmen - > masters degree in 4 years or less.

But I have to ask, have you been at UNH all this time as a fencer... not fencing?

fencingguy · 03-09-2005, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edew

Those making the top-4:

WF:
Emily Cross
Hannah Thompson
Andrea Ament
Alicja Kryczalo
Diana Schawlowski

Team finish:

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. St John's U (they have a full 12-person team)
4. Penn State (while fielding 11, they don't have any heavy guns)
5. Columbia U (might put Columbia ahead of Penn State)
6. Harvard
7. Princeton
8. U Penn

Two things: 1) 5 for the women's foil top 4??? C'mon Eric, no hedging bets

2) No heavy guns for Penn State? What about Bogachev and Panchan?

noodle · 03-09-2005, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackillian

I could, but it would mean leaving my club, or fencing there less. I dunno. I'll take to my private lesson coach about it. My club's head coach used to be head coach at UNH, but had a huge falling out with their current coach, so I think his opinion would be a BIT biased.

if you want to talk more about it, pm me

don't want to threadjack this any worse than i am

edew · 03-09-2005, 03:13 PM

Oops. In that case, drop out Schawlowski.

Non and Bogichev are big guns. But that's two. Compare that
with OSU: Crompton, Rogers, Thompson, Thompson... or
Notre Dame.

mackillian · 03-09-2005, 03:31 PM

I got my bachelor's at a different college from 1998-2002. I took two years off to work in my field (social worK) and started grad school at UNH in fall 2003.

I've only been a fencer since last April.

haroldbuck · 03-09-2005, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackillian

I got my bachelor's at a different college from 1998-2002. I took two years off to work in my field (social worK) and started grad school at UNH in fall 2003.

I've only been a fencer since last April.

No offense, but fencing at the NCAA level on one year's experience is most likely not a realistic goal for anyone. The people I know who fence NCAA-level all started fencing in 8th grade or earlier. One started in fourth grade, I think.

Club-level fencing is most likely what you're looking for, and I believe it isn't uncommon for schools with NCAA teams to also have recreational/competitive fencing clubs. Good luck!

mackillian · 03-09-2005, 03:42 PM

Oh, I know. I was asking about elibility for when I get my PhD in a few years and through that.

mfp · 03-09-2005, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackillian

And Kerry Walton started out at my fencing club...her mom was my beginning fencing instructor!

Walton certainly is a very good fencer. But one of the reasons I picked Garina to repeat over Walton at NCAAs is because Garina's father is one of my coaches

Garina's father is also still fencing, placing in the top 8 in epee at the last Vet Worlds.

mackillian · 03-09-2005, 04:09 PM

Oh cool! Kerry's mom is also still a competitive fencer placed in foil at the vet worlds last year. She's going to the Denver NAC this weekend. The Waltons are great folks. They're all about competing, but so friendly.

MyrddinsPrecint · 03-09-2005, 05:00 PM

first off: UNH is club, not ncaa.

"The club is open to UNH students, faculty, and staff. Undergraduate students are encouraged, though not required, to compete. We participate in collegiate events with schools from all over New England, such as BC, BU, Brandeis, Dartmouth, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Smith, Tufts, UMASS, and others. Although we are a club sport, we compete not only with the collegiate clubs, but with the varsity programs as well."

http://www.unh.edu/fencing/unhmain.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldbuck

No offense, but fencing at the NCAA level on one year's experience is most likely not a realistic goal for anyone. The people I know who fence NCAA-level all started fencing in 8th grade or earlier. One started in fourth grade, I think.

Club-level fencing is most likely what you're looking for, and I believe it isn't uncommon for schools with NCAA teams to also have recreational/competitive fencing clubs. Good luck!

there is a big difference between NCAA programs.

if you wanted to qualify for NCAA championships, you have to have started before you were born (roughly). to competitively fence for a NCAA program? not as difficult. the example that comes to mind first is Wellesley (DIVIII) .... to quote their website, "The level of skill of the participants ranges from novice to advanced." ....... UMass, (which is having a recent influx of people who have fenced before.... but i believe their current WS squad all started when they arrived at college) was a much more difficult team, in my opinion.

whtouche · 03-09-2005, 05:28 PM

UMass's WS A strip started in highschool.

fixxmyweapon · 03-09-2005, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyrddinsPrecint

if you wanted to qualify for NCAA championships, you have to have started before you were born (roughly).

That is not necessarily true. It depends how difficult your region is, how hard you train when you do fence and what not. Some people pick up fencing in highschool and qualify for NCAA's their freshman year.

But I do agree, to competitivly fence for an NCAA school is not that difficult. Again, it depends on where you go as well.

DHCJr · 03-09-2005, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldbuck

No offense, but fencing at the NCAA level on one year's experience is most likely not a realistic goal for anyone. The people I know who fence NCAA-level all started fencing in 8th grade or earlier. One started in fourth grade, I think.

Long Beach State had a number of All-Americans at the NCAA. Most started fencing in college.

SmokeyTheCat263 · 03-10-2005, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyrddinsPrecint

there is a big difference between NCAA programs.

if you wanted to qualify for NCAA championships, you have to have started before you were born (roughly).

I agree with fixxmyweaopn. This is not necessarily true. I recently qualified for NCAAs recently, and will be fencing in them soon. Even as one who came out on top, in my opinion the system is a bit flawed.

1. The regions are horribly lopsided in different weapons, making some regions harder than others depending on what you fence and what gender. Examples : Midwest is the toughest for mens sabre, while the northeast is probably the toughest in mens foil.

2. The initial seeding at regional events is often flawed. For example, I know the St. Johns kids were seeded rather low at the northeast regionals, simply because St. Johns generally has their fencers fence the bear minumum bouts to qualify for regionals (20 bouts). Because of their low seeding, the 1st round of pools lopsided and this only amplifies the randomness in the 2nd round, 3rd round, etc. As a result, a few undeserving fencers always make it to the final round, and sometimes qualify over the deserving ones, simply because they had easier pools.

3. Sometimes schools that have a shot at the NCAA title gamble with eachother by trying to lock fencers out of qualifying. They do this by ordering their fencers to lose to crappy-kid-x from randomschoool, during the inseason and even at regionals. Crappy-kid-x gets more power points during the inseason, and at regionals he makes it to the final round as the power-house schools order their fencers to lose to him. Thus his index number is highly boosted after regionals, and he qualifies over some other deserving fencer. I know this seems far fetched, but trust me it happens i kno for fact. I'm simply leaving out names and details.

The end result? Considering the wide skill range at the NCAA champs, it is no surprise that there are always a few people there who have not, as MyrddinsPrecinct put it, "have been fencing before they were born". This being said, I would suggest this happens in the minority. Nevertheless, it still happens.

Spike327 · 03-10-2005, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whtouche

I would actually pick wes newkirk to finish close to the bottom.
He's a decent fencer to be sure, but a pretty small fish in that pond.

Wes Newkirk is indeed decent, and I'd put him finishing a good bit higher than he did last year (I think it was 18th). Additionally, Wes slept with my mom. And my mom is hot. I don't think I need to say any more than that.

Uh... Go UNC.