Four members of the New York University ninth-ranked men's fencing team completed the first day of competition at the NCAA Championships, which are being held at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke University in Durham, NC, from Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26.

Seniors Brian Kim and Darren Yen are competing in saber, senior Ian Adler is competing in épée, while freshman Farr Dickson is representing NYU in foil.

After Thursday's events, the Violets are in 11th place overall in the 23-team competition. NYU has 17 points and is tied with the University of California-San Diego. 

The University of Notre Dame is in first place with 62 points. The Championships consist of teams from all three NCAA Divisions.

NYU is currently the highest ranking Division III team, with fellow University Athletic Association (UAA) squad, Brandeis University, next among the Division III teams in 16th place.

Adler posted the highest finish of any of the four Violets on Thursday. He is currently in 16th place after posting seven épée victories.

In saber, Kim recorded four victories and is in 18th place. Yen posted three victories, but then had to withdraw due to injury. Farr is also in 21st place in foil after posting five victories.       

"Darren was fencing well before he was injured. He was tied for first at the time," said Head Coach Ben Bratton. "It kind of took the wind out of our sails when it happened."

Each fencer (other than Yen) competed in 15 bouts today and will fence nine more tomorrow. The top 12 fencers in each weapon receive All-America honors.

"On a positive note, Ian is still within range of All-America honors," Bratton explained. "This is a very challenging event. All of our fencers are competing here for the first time against a very strong field. They did their best and there's more fencing to be done." 

The competition continues at 9:00am on Friday.