PHILADELPHIA, PA –
Nicole Yu led Johns Hopkins with a third-place finish at the Coach Nikki Franke Classic in the Blue Jays' season opener Saturday. Yu was one of three Blue Jays to finish in the top eight on Saturday.
Yu went 10-0 in pool play and then advanced to the semifinals before falling to top-seeded Grace Hu of Penn. Yu finished the day with a 13-1 record to finish in a tie for third for the second straight year. She was the only Division III fencer to finish in the top 14 of the Epee.
Thansi Garikipati finished in 18
th place, out of 62 fencers in the Epee. She went 7-2 in pool play and then lost in the round of 32 to finish the day with a 7-3 record.
Eleanor Li led four Hopkins' fencers in the Foil with a seventh-place finish. She went 9-0 in pool play and advanced to the quarterfinals to finish with an 11-1 record. Li is the first Blue Jay to finish in the top 10 in the Foil since
Brooke Stanicki placed seventh in 2017. She was also the only Division III fencer in the top 14.
Yi Ling Sha finished in 15
th place, followed by
Ada Yao (17
th) and
Jasmine Wang (24
th). Sha finished pool play with a 6-3 record and then advanced to the round of 16 to post a 7-4 record. Yao went 8-2 in pool play and then 0-1 in direct elimination to finish at 8-3. Wang posted a 5-5 record after pool play and then 1-1 in elimination to go 6-6.
Ky McSweeney led four JHU Sabrists with a seventh-place finish and a 9-5 record on the day. They posted a 6-4 record in pool play and then advanced to the quarterfinals. McSweeney was the only DIII fencer to place in the top 13 in the Sabre. It is also the sixth time in the last eight years that a Blue Jays has placed in the top seven.
Angelina Tse finished in 15
th place,
Annie Xiong placed 21
st and
Adele Dai finished in 28
th place. Tse went 8-2 in pool play and then advanced to the round of 16 to post a 10-3 record. Xiong won nine of 10 bouts in pool play and then lost in the round of 32, to Tse, to go 9-2. Dai went 6-4 in pool play before advancing to the round of 32 to go 7-5.
Hopkins returns to action at the Drew Invitational on November 7.
