From Brandeis University Athletics
The Brandeis University fencing team opened its 2019-20 season in style today at the Northeast Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Collegiate Invitational – better known as The Big One.
On the women's side, the Judges' best performance came in the sabre event, where they took the top two spots. Rookies Jessica Morales (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) and Maggie Shealy (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) emerged from pool play with the third and fourth seeds, respectively. Both went 5-0 in pool play with indicators of +23 and +21. The Judges also claimed the eighth and 10th seeds, as sophomore Jada Harrison (Jericho, N.Y./Jericho) and junior Devon Brown (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) went 5-1 and 4-1, respectively.
Harrison went on to reach the quarterfinals with a 15-1 win over a foe from Smith in the Round of 32 and a 15-11 win over MIT in the Sweet 16 before bowing out in the quarters to top-seeded Crystal Chen of BC, 15-7. Shealy, who defeated two foes from BU by identical 15-6 scores to reach the quarters, knocked off Katarina Shone of Boston College, 15-7, to get to the semis and earn a medal. She upset top-seeded Chen, 15-12, to reach the title match, where she faced her teammate Morales. Morales rolled past opponents from New Hampshire and Amherst, 15-3, to get to the quarters.
In her first tight match, she defeated MIT's Kristen Palmer, 15-10, to get to the semis. Against second-seeded Gillian Lawlor, another BC Eagle, Morales claimed a 15-9 win. In the gold-medal match, Morales prevailed, 15-11, over Shealy.