Junior fencer April Whitney and freshman fencer Angelica Gangemi traveled to San Antonio, Texas, this past weekend to represent Cornell in the NCAA Fencing Championships. After day one of the championships, Gangemi found herself in eighth place, followed by Whitney in 16th place. Gangemi finished the tournament in 14th place, while Whitney took the 17th spot. Coming out of the Northeast regional competition, the largest and strongest of the four regional competitions, both Gangemi and Whitney finished within the top 15 in foil. Gangemi, who came into the regional as the 11th seed, finished in sixth place overall with Whitney finishing close behind in 12th place. Based on these strong performances at regionals, both girls were chosen to advance and compete in the championships this past weekend.On the first day of competition, Gangemi and Whitney found themselves competing against one another. “It’s always nerve-wracking competing against a teammate,” Gangemi said. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. April is a really talented fencer and a good friend, so competing against her is difficult.” Gangemi finished with overall 11 victories in the championship for strong conclusion to her rookie campaign.“It was exciting — my goal was to be able to go to regionals, and to make it to the Championship was amazing,” she said. “I hope to go back and improve my results in the years to come.” Whitney, who has competed for Cornell since her freshman year and has previously participated in two NCAA championships, finished with a total of nine wins under her belt. Together, Gangemi and Whitney lead Cornell to an impressive 19th place team finish.
Original Author: Anna Fasman