Cornell Fencing Makes Program History With 9th-Place Finish at NCAA Championships

3/20/2026 3:42:00 PM | By: Shawn Gillen, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Cornell women's fencing concluded competition at the NCAA Championships on Friday, finishing ninth in the team standings with 42 total wins, both program records in the modern era, the program announced.

The Big Red's 9th-place team finish marks the first time in program history Cornell has cracked the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. The 42 victories surpassed the previous program record of 39 set in 2019 and represent only the sixth time in the modern era Cornell has combined for 30 or more wins at a single NCAA Championships.

Senior Ketki Ketkar led the charge, going 7-1 on Friday in epee to finish in the top four and advance to the semifinals, where she faced Columbia's Hadley Husisian, falling to the fellow Ivy Leaguer, 15-7.
Ketkar earned All-American honors for the third time in her career. She finished third at the 2024 NCAA Championships and sixth in 2025, becoming just the third Cornell fencer to earn All-American honors in program history, joining Peggy Walbridge (1972, 1973, 1974) and Christine Hamori (1982, 1983, 1984).

Junior sabers Isabela Carvalho and Samantha Marsee each finished with nine wins across the full competition. Carvalho won two of her eight bouts on Friday to close 16th overall in saber in her second NCAA Championships appearance. Marsee went 4-4 overall on the final day to finish 19th overall, in her second trip to nationals.

Freshman Lana Lee rounded out Cornell's contingent in foil, posting two wins Friday and finishing with seven total victories to place 20th overall in her first NCAA Championships appearance.

Cornell qualified four athletes to this year's championships, the most the program has sent to nationals since 2022 and only the fifth time in program history it has qualified four or more athletes.

The Big Red's historic run capped a landmark season for the program. Earlier this year, Ketkar became the first Cornell athlete in program history to win an Ivy League individual championship in any weapon. The program also set a record at the Northeast Regional Championships when four sabre fencers advanced to the regional finals, the first time Cornell had accomplished that feat in any weapon.

Cornell's previous best team finish at the NCAA Championships in the modern era was 13th place in 2024, a combined men's and women's ranking. The program had previously recorded a top-10 women's score just four times in program history, with its best previous women's performance coming in 2022.

This season is the first time Women's Fencing will be awarded their own NCAA Championship Title.

Notre Dame won the team-title, edging out Columbia with 102 points to 99. Princeton, Penn, and Harvard also placed inside the top-5, while Yale finished ahead of Cornell for ninth place.

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