Sam Roukas Earns All-America Honors at NCAA Fencing Championships
03/16/08
NCAA Fencing Championships Results
New York University sophomore Sam Roukas earned Second Team All-America accolades with a seventh-place finish in sabre at the NCAA Championships, which were held on Thursday-Sunday, 13-16, at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.
Competing at the NCAA's for the second time in his two-year NYU career, Roukas won five of his 14 bouts on Saturday and all but one of his nine bouts on Sunday to finish with a 13-10 record.
It was the first All-America honor for Roukas, who finished 22nd at the 2007 Championships.
Classmate Jared Hammond, who took 23rd place in 2007, won eight bouts during the two days of the men's competition and improved to 17th place in the weapon.
Overall, 24 fencers competed in sabre.
"It was a very exciting weekend for our team and for NYU," said Violet head coach Steven Mormando. "Everyone fenced great."
The performances of the two NYU men, combined with those of the two NYU women who competed on Thursday and Friday (freshman Sophia Ciaravino and sophomore Alyxandra Mattison), gave NYU an overall 15th-place finish in the 27-team competition.
The Violets finished ahead of all other NCAA Division III teams in a competition that included fencers from all three NCAA Divisions.
The Violets, with 37 total wins, edged 16th-place Yale University (35).
Host Ohio State won the competition with 185 wins.