The New York University women's fencing team opened its 2025-26 season at the Nikki Franke Classic at Temple University on Saturday, October 25.
The Violets competed in all three weapons, with four top-15 finishes across the board.
Rosemarie Benciu was the big winner for the Violets, taking first place out of 78 fencers in saber in her first collegiate outing. She clinched the title with a championship win over Lydia Johnson from Boston College, 15-11.
NYU looked strong as a whole, but the team excelled in epee, with three fencers finishing among the top 16.
Katherine Chen took sixth place out of 87 in epee for the Violets. She matched up with fellow Violet,
Hiba Hafeez (10th place), in the round of 16, battling out a 15-14 win. She then lost to Nicole Yu of Johns Hopkins University 10-9.
Azniv Basralian also had a strong showing in epee, going undefeated (8-0) in pool play and taking 11th place overall. She bested Eda Cevikol of the University of Pennsylvania 15-11, before falling to Elizabeth Zigalo from the University of North Carolina by a similar score in the round of 16.
"It was incredibly exciting to see Rosemarie finish at the top of the podium. Although she's young, she already brings significant international experience to our roster and I'm confident she has the potential for some outstanding results this season," said Head Coach
Ben Bratton. "The team as a whole was terrific. It was an impressive showing across the board and a strong indicator of the group's depth."
The top foil finisher for NYU was
Audrey Shitamoto who took 27th out of 68 fencers.
Claudia Meyer was right behind her, tying for 28th place.
The Violets are back in action on Sunday, November 23, heading to Long Island University (LIU) to face LIU, St.John's, and Yale.
