PHILADELPHIA – First-year Samantha Kelling finished 33rd in foil to lead the Haverford College women's fencing team in its 2026-27 season opener Saturday at the Coach Nikki Franke Classic, hosted by Temple University at the Liacouras Center. The annual tournament featured collegiate varsity and club fencers competing individually in epee, foil and sabre, with pool rounds followed by direct-elimination bouts.
Epee
Evelyn Penhoet, Haverford's lone entrant in epee, tied for 44th overall. She opened with a 3-1 record in her first-round pool, earning victories over Keira Currie of Rutgers, Isabel You of Fairleigh Dickinson and Ahra Choi of Navy. After going winless in her second-round pool, Penhoet fell to Madyson Gavilanes of Stevens in the direct elimination tableau round of 64.
Foil
Kelling opened her collegiate career with a 3-2 record in her first-round pool, defeating Carolina Lazar of Fairleigh Dickinson, Eva Barth of Bryn Mawr and Jennifer Jung of Army. She added victories over Elise LeMasters of Drew and Frieda Ungerer of Sacred Heart in the second round of pools before falling to Julia Stenger of Hunter in the round of 64.
Janna Castro tied for 53rd overall. After going winless in her opening pool, Castro rebounded with three victories in consolation action, defeating Barth, Veronica Merinova of Temple's club program and Annika Katchur of Drexel.
Sabre
Eleni Antoniades paced Haverford's three sabre entrants with a 38th-place finish, followed by Sienna Chung in 43rd and Oju Rizal in 45th. Antoniades earned opening-round victories over Sophie Cao of Penn and Emily Rosas Escamilla of Hunter. Chung defeated Yesenia Polanco of CCNY, while Rizal picked up a win over Kristela Malaj of Florida.
In the second round of pools, Antoniades added a victory over Carmen Bolt-Turner of Fairleigh Dickinson, while Chung and Rizal went winless.
All three concluded their days in the round of 64. Antoniades fell to Nandana Presanth of NJIT, Chung dropped her bout against Sela Feig of Boston College and Rizal fell to Sabrina Holmes of Drew.
The Coach Nikki Franke Classic continues Sunday with men's competition at the Liacouras Center, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Haverford's women open their dual-meet schedule Nov. 7 at the Drew Invitational in Madison, N.J. Competition begins at 9 a.m.
