Blacksburg, VA - The 9th ranked Temple Women's Fencing team won all three

weapons and was crowned NIWFA fencing champions this past weekend, March 3-4.

The Owls competed against 15 teams and came out on top in the team competition

as well as each of the individual weapons. Army, the University of Florida

and Farleigh Dickinson came in second, third and fourth respectively.

The Foil squad swept the top three spots with senior Gina DeIseo (Franklin

Lakes, N.J./Indian Hills) coming in first, Stefanie Izzolino (Maplewood,

N.J./Columbia) second and Jamie Beecher (Brentwood, N.Y./Brentwood) finishing

third. The Epee squad also went 1-2-3 with juniors Julie Korony (Columbia,

S.C./A.C. Flora) and Sara Forsythe (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) taking

first and second place and freshman Stephanie Sargent (Califon, N.J./Voorhees)

finishing third.

Sophomore Sakinah Shaahid (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley) was the lone Owl to

finish in the top three in the Sabre category. Shaahid took second place

after losing by just one bout (14-15) to defending champion Sarah Walsh

(University of Florida).

The Owls compete for an NCAA bid on Saturday, March 10 at the Regional

Quarterfinals at Drew University in New Jersey.