DURHAM, N.C. — LIU fencing is bringing home some hardware from the NCAA National Championships for the third consecutive year, as junior Laura Fekete and freshman Mo Elsayed both achieve All-American honors.

Teamed up with freshman epeeist Costanza Greggi, the trio traveled to Durham, N.C., over the weekend to compete in the 2023 NCAA National Fencing Championships, held at Duke University's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Twenty-eighth schools nationwide sent a contingent to the championships, with defending team champions Notre Dame, Princeton and Columbia qualifying the maximum of 12 fencers each.

The tournament features a round-robin format of 24 fencers in each of three weapons on the men's and women's sides, respectively, for a total of six events and 144 total participants. All participants must fence in one five-touch bout against each of the other 23 fencers in their assigned events over the course of two days, with 15 bouts contested on the first day and eight on the second day.

After the large pool is completed, the fencers are ranked by wins and the top four ranked fencers compete in a 15-touch elimination bracket to determine the individual national champion. Each individual pool win counts as a win for the team total, and the school with the highest total of wins over all six events wins the team title.

Elsayed, the lone men's qualifier from LIU, finished his pool with 19 wins, ranked first in the nation going into the direct elimination bracket, but fell to Ohio State's Paul Weltrup in the semifinal, and brought home a bronze medal and first-team All-America honors in the very first season of LIU men's fencing.

Fekete finished with 13 wins in her event, good enough for eighth place and second-team All-America honors. This makes the junior epeeist a three-time All-American, as she won individual gold and bronze the past two seasons.

Greggi won six bouts before spraining an ankle during the final round of the first day. She eventually withdrew from the event due to injury, but her six wins were still good enough for 19th place.

The trio combined for a team total of 38 wins, placing LIU in 15th place, its highest team finish ever.

"I couldn't be prouder of how well our fencers competed this weekend," head coach Ivan Lee said. "They gained a lot of experience and battled through some serious competition. We were only three deep, but we certainly made our presence felt."

Added Assistant Coach Dwight Smith: "To be successful in this sport, you must work hard and fight for every touch, and our team did just that this weekend. We are looking forward to bigger and better things in the years to come!"

With these results, LIU Fencing now has four All-Americans on the team, the other two being juniors Anna Szántay and Chejsa-Kaili Seck, who also won this year's NIWFA Sabre Championship.

The team will kick off next season with its fifth annual Sharktank Challenge on Oct. 22.