Guo wins Individual National Championship, Team Clinches Fourth Place at NCAA Championships

Nine members of Harvard’s fencing team journeyed down to South Bend, Ind., last weekend to compete in the NCAA National Championship finals. Although the team was not able to clinch a top-three finish, junior Jessica Zi Jia Guo won her second individual National Championship in the foil.

Women’s Fencing

Coming off the back of a second-place finish at the Ivy League Championship, where it lost to the Columbia Lions, the team had something to prove.

With strong showings across each weapon, the five women fought valiantly across the two days, but it was Guo’s stellar display in the foil event that supported the team in its quest for glory.

Across the competition, two of the five Harvard fencers earned All-America Honors.

The truly stand-out performance came from Guo, who propelled the Crimson up in the rankings. Over the course of the tournament, Guo won 20 out of the 23 round robin bouts, spurring her to the second individual national championship title of her career. A two-time Team Canada Olympian, Guo made history by being the first Harvard woman to win the individual national championship twice.

Yet, the junior was not alone in her efforts. Freshman Lucia Zhang took third place in the women’s foil event in her NCAA debut. Zhang was also a recipient of First Team All-America honors, cementing her position as one to watch in the coming years.

In the saber event, it was sophomore Madison Duckett and junior Kaitlyn Pak representing the Crimson. Following her silver medal at the NCAA North East Regional Championships, Duckett aimed to impress in her first NCAA championship. As such, she took home 11th place, totalling 11 wins across the tournament. Pak, despite suffering an injury early on in the tournament, managed to take home a top 15 finish, adding to the Crimson’s total point total.

The team credits its head coach, Daria Schnieder, with its success.

“It was Daria Schnieder, it was the NCAA, it was Harvard Fencing that allowed me to even be here and chase that dream,” said Duckett.

Despite just missing out on medalling position, the Crimson put on an impressive display on the national stage. After taking some time to recover from this intense bout of competition, the team will gear up to pursue more individual championships next season and look to add a team medal as well.

Men’s Fencing

Though they were unable to secure a top-three spot, just missing out with a fourth-place finish, all four of Harvard’s male competitors took home All-American honors.

One of the most notable members of the squad was sophomore Colin Heathcock, who was competing in his first NCAA Championship. Heathcock was a member of the 2024 Team USA Olympic team and took a total of 20 victories over the course of the weekend. Individually, he tied for third, supporting his squad’s dream of earning a top-three finish.

Also competing in his inaugural NCAA Championship was freshman Roy Graham. In his debut, Graham took home a strong seventh-place finish in the foil class. Despite his relative inexperience on the collegiate stage, Graham was able to post a 14-9 record and a +22 indicator, beating out some of his more seasoned teammates.

Veteran epee duo sophomore Nicholas Zhang and junior Henry Lawson took home sixth and 10th place, respectively. Zhang, the current reigning Ivy League Men’s Epee Champion, took home 13 wins across the tournament, while his training partner Lawson claimed 15. These two solid finishes helped increase the Crimson’s total points tally, thereby moving the team up in the overall rankings.

With both the men’s and women’s results combined, it marks Schnieder’s tenure as the leader of the team as one of the most successful in program history. At no point in the last five years of her career has Harvard finished outside of the top five at the NCAA championship, underscoring Schnieder’s remarkable success at the helm of the squad.

Just one point off the third-place finisher, St. John’s University, a Crimson team that returns all nine competitors across the men’s and women’s championships, is sure to contend for the top spot on the podium next season.

— Staff writer Matilda C. Genieser can be reached at [email protected].