DC Fencers Club salutes medalists at NCAA fencing championships
March 26, 2018
DC Fencers Club salutes Amanda Sirico (Bowie, MD) and Isaac Shelanski (Washington, DC) who both earned individual bronze medals at the 2018 National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Fencing Championships (NCAA) Fencing Championships, held at the Pennsylvania State University on March 22-25, 2018. Sirico and Shelanski were two of 144 fencers who were selected to compete at the championships.
Notre Dame junior Amanda Sirico finished in a third-place tie (women’s epee) for the second straight season, earning her second career First Team All-America placement. Sirico’s achievements helped Notre Dame fencing win its 10th NCAA championship title on Sunday, and back-to-back titles for the first time in 40 years (2017, 2018). Columbia took second place, and Ohio State took third.
Among Sirico’s recent results: Bronze, Team Epee (USA), Barcelona World Cup, February 2018; Silver, Division I Women’s Epee, October 2017 North American Cup, Anaheim, California; 2015 Junior National Champion; 2014, 2015, and 2016 Junior World Team Member.
Yale sophomore Isaac Shelanski also advanced to the top four in the men’s epee event. In the semi-finals match up, Shelanski faced Sean White from St. John’s, who won 15-13. Among Shelanski’s national and international results, he took first place, Helsinki Cadet World Circuit in 2015 and was the 2013 Y-14 National Champion.
The NCAA Fencing Championships include individual men’s and women’s events in epee, foil, and sabre. Fencers compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. The top-four finishers in each weapon fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts to determine the gold, silver, and bronze-tie medalists. The overall championship title is determined by cumulative points from the men’s and women’s individual results in the foil, sabre, and epee events.
Sirico and Shelanski are members of DC Fencers Club (DCFC), where they train with DCFC Head Coach Janusz Smolenski. For 28 years, Smolenski has coached many fencers to top results at U.S. National Championships, North American Cups, and international events. Sirico and Shelanski are among many elite competitive fencers from the Washington, D.C. region.