Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

MPSF Fencing Annual Awards Announced

4/1/2024 9:00:27 AM

Photo: Crystal Qian, Stanford (by: David Bernal)
   
Stanford University sophomore Crystal Qian (Cupertino, CA) helped the Cardinal capture a third-straight MPSF Championship. She was a first team All-MPSF honoree in women’s foil for the second-straight year. Qian won the Elite 90 Award for the 2024 NCAA Division-I Women’s Fencing Championship, an award given annually to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the NCAA Championships. Qian earned second team All-American honors backed by a sixth-place national finish. She repeated as NCAA West Regional Foil Champion on her way to NCAA Championship competition. Qian becomes the first female fencer to earn multiple MPSF major annual awards (2023 newcomer of the year).
 
Air Force freshman Christina Watrall (Mahwah, NJ) was named to the All-MPSF second team as a bronze medalist in women’s epee. She turned in a remarkable NCAA West Regional, accumulating a 14-1 record (.933) en route to the epee title. Watrall proceeded to make her debut at the NCAA Championships, where she placed 13th with 11 wins. As Air Force hosted the Western Invitational during the season, Watrall collected 17 bout victories while competing against six nationally-ranked opponents, including four of the nation’s top-five. She led the Falcon Women with a 21^st-place epee finish in the January North American Cup, as she reached the round of 32 out of a field of 203. Watrall is the first MPSF Women’s Newcomer of the Year from Air Force.
   
Air Force sophomore Jack Griffith (Naples, FL) defended his MPSF Men’s Foil Championship, going undefeated en route to his title and being named a first team All-MPSF selection. Griffith also repeated as the NCAA West Regional Men’s Foil Champion and was an NCAA Championship participant for the second time. At NCAA’s, he finished in ninth-place with 14 wins and picked up honorable mention All-American honors. He was an Absolute Fencing Gear FIX Grand Prix participant, as one of 20 fencers selected from the United States, where he finished 127th out of 231. This is Griffith’s second career MPSF major annual award, becoming the first male fencer to achieve the feat (2023 conference newcomer of the year).
  
UC San Diego freshman Hananiah So (New York City, NY) was one of three first-year fencers to earn an all-conference award this year. He was a semi-finalist in men’s saber at the MPSF Championships, after winning the event at the NCAA West Regional. So competed in his first NCAA Championship where he picked up five bout wins. At the North America Cup in November, So finished ninth out of 308, and went undefeated in the pool bouts. So is the first MPSF Men’s Newcomer of the Year from UC San Diego.
 

UC San Diego Head Coach Juan Ignacio Calderon helped place seven Tritons’ on this year’s All-MPSF teams. Renee Zuhars was the 2024 MPSF Women’s Epee Champion, as was Zara Fearns in women’s saber. Scott Lao was the silver medalist in MPSF Men’s Foil, while Zehra Anbarlilar (women’s foil), Sanil Sharma (men’s epee), Arnav Raja (men’s saber), and MPSF Newcomer of the Year Hananiah So (men’s saber) each posted third-place results at the MPSF Championships. Zuhars placed 15th in her second-straight NCAA Championship event, and posted victories over Harvard’s individual champion and the eventual third-place finisher from St. John's. Raja, in his first-ever NCAA Championship event, earned a win over the eventual saber third-place finisher. Headlining the regular season was UCSD’s strong weekend at the Northwestern Duals as both the men and women earned an 8-3 record across all weapons. This is the first MPSF Coaching award for Calderon.

2024 MPSF ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR
COURTNEY HURLEY · INCARNATE WORD

University of the Incarnate Word Assistant Coach Courtney Hurley helped guide the Cardinals to three all-conference awards this year in Rico Braun, Brendan Barber, and Julien Spier. Braun was the 2024 MPSF Men’s Epee Champion. Hurley is a three-time USA Olympian in Women's Epee (2012, 2016 & 2020). She won an Olympic Bronze medal with the USA Women's Epee team in 2012. She was a two-time NCAA Champion at the University of Notre Dame, Cadet World Champion, Junior World Champion (team), Junior World Cup (FIE) Points Champion, Senior World Champion (team) and won a bronze medal at the Senior World Championships. Hurley was an assistant coach at Notre Dame in 2022, prior to joining the UIW staff.