Jan. 10, 2018
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Former University of Notre Dame fencing standouts Madison Zeiss (`15) and James Kaull (’12) shone over the weekend at the 2018 January North American Cup in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Zeiss snared gold in the Division I women’s foil event, while Kaull topped the podium in men’s epee, as several other current and former Irish fencers also turned in top performances.
Junior Elyssa Kleiner claimed bronze in the same event, while sophomore Samantha Viqueira claimed 15th. In the junior women’s foil event, freshman Isabelle Elizondo snared fifth, while sophomore Morgan Partridge came in ninth.
Also snaring top-10 finishes were senior Francesca Russo (ninth, Div. I women’s sabre) and Aidan Antekeier (t-third, men’s epee classification). Junior foilist Axel Kiefer came in 11th in the Division I men’s foil event.
The Irish will return to NCAA competition next week when they hit the East Coast for a pair of meets at St. John’s and NYU. They will compete at the St. John’s SuperCup on Saturday, Jan. 20, in Jamaica, New York, before wrapping the weekend at the NYU Invitational (hosted by Penn in Philadelphia due to facility renovations at NYU) on Sunday, Jan. 20.
2018 January North American Cup
Jan. 5-8, 2018
Virginia Beach, Va.
Division I Women’s Foil
1. Madison Zeiss (`15)
T3. Elyssa Kleiner
15. Samantha Viqueira
27. Morgan Partridge
40. Isabelle Elizondo
54. Stefani Deschner
69. Erica Tsai
110. Beatrice Verrecchia
Junior Women’s Foil
5. Isabelle Elizondo
9. Morgan Partridge
19. Samantha Viqueira
35. Stefani Deschner
44. Erica Tsai
73. Beatrice Verrecchia
Division I Women’s Epee
39. Amanda Sirico
87. Katherine Wallace
116. Julia Barry
Division I Women’s Sabre
9. Francesca Russo
16. Reghan Ward
24. Claudia Kulmacz
26. Regina O’Brien
38. Tara Hassett
Junior Women’s Sabre
18. Reghan Ward
Division I Men’s Foil
11. Axel Kiefer
67. Joseph Marino
76. Hazem Khazbak
146. Matthew Tichacek
201. Alexander Ju
Junior Men’s Foil
18. Joseph Marino
28. Thomas Murray
T86. Matthew Tichacek
129. Alexander Ju
Division I Men’s Epee
1. James Kaull (’12)
17. Dylan French
18. Ariel Simmons
86. Stephen Ewart
89. Darius Zacharakis
123. Aidan Antekeier
Men’s Epee Classification Event
T3. Aidan Antekeier
Division I Men’s Sabre
14. Jonah Shainberg
25. Jonathan Fitzgerald
153. Ben Scholl
Junior Men’s Sabre
93. Ben Scholl
127. Colin Campbell
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.