As a borderline qualifier for the upcoming NCAA National Collegiate Fencing Championships, saber Adam Austin '11 needed to finish in at least sixth place at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships last Sunday to secure his first career bid to the NCAA Championships. After losing his first two bouts in the final round of pool play, Austin faced the reining NCAA champion, Columbia University junior Jeff Spear, and won 5-4, sparking his run to finish in fifth place on the day and eventually qualify for the NCAA Championships. "In past meets, I felt like I could beat [Spear] every time," Austin said. "It seemed like I was screwing up more than he was beating me, so I walked in and said that I was finally going to do it. I got a first good touch, and it gave me the confidence to compete through the final round."

Captain and foil Will Friedman '09 and saber Anna Hanley '11 will join Austin at the NCAA Championships starting March 19 at Penn State University after Friedman finished in eighth place while Hanley finished 13th.

The NCAA holds four regional tournaments throughout the country. Qualification for the NCAA National Championships is based on regular-season success, strength of schedule and regional tournament finish. The regional consists of two pool rounds and a final 12-person, round-robin tournament.

Austin started the day ranked 13th of 27 fencers, but finished 3-3 in the first round to advance to the semifinals, where he would finish 2-2 to qualify for the 12th and final spot in the final round.

"I felt like I scraped through by the skin of my teeth until the end, when I went into an autopilot mode and fenced really well," Austin said.

"Austin fenced the best he had ever fenced in his life. He parried a lot, which is a key to him fencing at a high level," coach Bill Shipman said. "Throughout the day, he was able to control his emotions, which he had trouble with last year. He got it all together at the right time and got into NCAA Nationals."

Friedman will be returning to the NCAA National Championships for the fourth consecutive year after earning the ninth and final bid to compete. Last season, Friedman finished seventh in the foil division.

"It's very unusual that a Division III fencer qualifies for NCAA Nationals four consecutive years," Shipman said. "It's an accomplishment in and of itself."

Friedman's bid to the NCAA Championships was secured by victories against Columbia University juniors Kurt Getz and Issac Kim in the final round. Friedman defeated last year's NCAA Championships third-place finisher Getz for the first time in his career, winning 5-4. He also won 5-0 against Kim, whom he had lost to last week in the International Fencing Association Championships held at Brandeis and in an earlier round of pool play last Sunday.

"My performance varied on the day, but I was very patient and tried to figure out my opponents a lot more than simply reacting," Friedman said. "I knew that if I made it to the final round, I would wind up fencing 21 bouts on the day, so I kept in mind that if I won or lost one bout, it would have no effect on the next bout."

After almost reaching the NCAA National Championships last season, Hanley entered the regional competition determined to secure her first bid to the NCAA Championships despite her challenging first pool of competitors, including a former teammate and personal rival of hers at Sacred Heart University, from which Hanley transferred this season.

"I started off the day very discouraged because I was competing against [Sacred Heart junior] Krista Bacci; I had [Massachusetts Institute of Technology rookie] Robin Shin, who I had lost to in the last two meets; I also competed against [Columbia University sophomore] Jackie Jacobson, whose two older sisters [Emily and Sada] both competed in the Olympics," Hanley said.

Realizing that she needed to win three bouts to advance to the semifinals, Hanley tried to shake her initial nerves but fell to Bacci 5-1. However, Hanley regained her composure and defeated Shin 5-1 and Jacobson 5-3.

"I remember watching Robin Shin warm-up and seeing that she was getting all of her touches the same way," Hanley said. "Taking advantage of that, I won the bout by using my feet and using strong parry-repost combinations."

Hanley finished in 13th place and secured the 10th and final qualifying spot to compete in her first NCAA National Championships due to her 49-0 regular season record against Northeast Conference fencers and the strength of her competition. She was also recently named Northeast Conference Women's Fencer of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Other Judges fell just short of the qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Épée Caitlin Kozel's '09 13th place finish caused her to miss a third trip to the NCAA Championships after she had qualified the previous two seasons.

"In this tournament you have to be on, especially fencing épée," Shipman said. "She wasn't fencing her best, and she didn't make up for it in the opening round. She wasn't defending or counterattacking as well as she had been in past meets."

Épée Will Bedor '10 and foil Jessica Newhall '09 also failed to qualify for NCAA Nationals with 11th and 13th place finishes on the day, respectively.

With the high level of competition at the NCAA National Championships, Shipman said he only hopes that Friedman, Austin and Hanley fence to their potential.

"None of them will be favored to win," Shipman said. "[Friedman] was seventh last year. He or [Austin] on a good day can get into that range. [Hanley] has that ability too. If she gains some confidence and puts it all together, she can finish in the top half, if not higher.