As the fencing teams prepared for their regional championship last Sunday against Boston College, they encountered some unexpected news: Senior captain Alex Powell '12 would not be able to compete due to illness.

While the setback may have derailed most other squads, the Judges pushed through the Northeast Regionals at BC, carrying two of their players to the 2012 NCAA National Collegiate Fencing Championships.

Julian Cardillo '14 will be making his second trip to compete in men's foil, while Zoe Messinger '13 will duel in the women's saber division for the first time in the championships.

Épéeist Harry Kaufer '13 was very impressed with the squad's performance in spite of Powell's absence.

"The team very much missed Alex [Powell], who was hospitalized with pneumonia," he said. "So the day did not start off on a good note, but we powered through."

Heading into the tournament as the 20th seed, Messinger advanced significantly in this weekend's regional competition, improving to an 11th place ranking, indicating great progress from her 17th place finish at Regionals last year.

Messinger went 4-2 in her first round at the championships, advancing to the 16th spot. In the second round, she tied 3-3, which pushed out two other competitors who went .500, placing her in the 12th spot in the final pool.

Displaying the perseverance and consistency that has been evident all season, Messinger defeated two competitors from St. John's College and BC to advance to 11th overall, one of two at-large considerations from the Northeast region.

At Nationals last year, Cardillo finished 17th in foil. This weekend, he finished 10th at the NCAA Regionals.

Ranked at 17th going into the competition, he closed out 3-3 in the first round, managing to qualify for the last available spot of the second round.

With a 4-2 record, Cardillo moved onto the final round in ninth place. However, he squeaked into his spot at NCAAs, finishing in the finals with a 3-7 record. He finished one place ahead of fellow foilist Noah Berman '15 who showed great promise after cruising through the first round with a 4-1 mark.

Berman could not clinch the seed for NCAAs, however, falling in the finals with a 2-8 record.

His poor performance in the final round ultimately led to an 11th -place finish, just missing the necessary seed to qualify for NCAAs.

In the men's épée, Michael Zook '13 performed admirably in place of Alex Powell '12. Zook had a performance for the Brandeis history books, jumping from a 33rd seed before Sunday's competition to an impressive 10th -place finish after the final rounds.

Zook started out in the first round among the bottom 10 seeds with a 3-1 record, but tied 3-3 in the second and third round, advancing to 11th place before final play.

Zook went 4-7 in the final round but still notched notable wins over three Ivy League competitors, from Harvard University, Yale University and Columbia University, advancing to 10th place overall.

Despite his impressive results at the Northeast Regionals, Zook's regular season results prevented him from qualifying for the NCAA competition.

Kaufer was especially impressed with Zook's persistence and level of play in his rise to the 10th seed.

"Michael Zook fenced way above his projected round, making it all the way to the final round," he said.

However, other fencers on both squads turned in performances not to be overlooked.

Leah Mack '14 tied for 17th place in the women's épée competition, while Vikki Nunley also earned a 17th place finish in the women's foil event. Adam Mandel '15 finished 18th in the men's saber division.

Sabreist Ben Schmidt '14 admired the team's performance, stating that it was a great season for both squads.

"It was a good season and we came together as a team," he said.

Messinger and Cardillo will travel to San Antonio to compete in the NCAA Fencing Championships from March 23 to 26. The fields for the NCAA Division III championship will be announced at some point later today.

— Editor's Note: Julian Cardillo '14 is a Justice Sports staff writer.