Elston Impresses, ‘Cats Put Three In Top 25 At October NAC

ORLANDO, Fla. (October 13, 2026) – Sophia Elston continued the fast start to her first-year campaign, leading a group of three Wildcats to earn top-25 finishes, as Northwestern fencing saw action at USA Fencing’s October North American Cup (NAC) this past weekend in Orlando, Fla.

Competing in the Division I Elite section of the epee, Elston charged through pool action, winning four of her five bouts to enter direct elimination as the No. 16 seed.  The Redondo Beach, Calif. native picked up a pair of wins in the tableau en route to securing a 12^th-place finish.  Elston was joined in the top 30 of the weapon by fellow first-year Ana Beckman, who finished 27^th overall.

Brianna Ho paced Northwestern in the Division I Challenger Women’s Foil.  After posting a 4-2 tally in her pool bouts, Ho added a 15-9 win over Ann Tao in the Table of 64 in the tableau before dropping a razor-thin 15-14 decision to No. 10 seed Sohyung Lee to ultimately finish 21^st.

The pairing of Nisha Hild and Natalie Shearer spearheaded the attack for Northwestern in the Division I Elite Women’s Sabre.  Hild, who rounded out the Wildcats’ trio of top-25 finishers by placing 25^th, was victorious in four of her six pool bouts ahead of a dominant 15-4 triumph over No. 33 seed Alathea-Joy Ku in the Table of 64.  After matching Hild with a 4-2 finish in pool action, Shearer tallied a pair of wins in direct elimination, highlighted by a 15-14 upset of No. 26 seed Lila Paul.

A full listing of Northwestern’s results from the October NAC follows.

Division I Elite Women’s Epee
12^th – Sophia Elston
27^th – Ana Beckman
55^th – Angelica Xiong
64^th – Michaela Joyce

Division I Challenger Women’s Epee
79^th – Ava Wade-Currie

Division I Elite Women’s Foil
101^st – Anice Orvañanos

Division I Challenger Women’s Foil
21^st – Brianna Ho
36^th – Karina Vasile

Division I Elite Women’s Sabre
25^th – Nisha Hild
26^th – Natalie Shearer
55^th – Elaine Lu
60^th – Jaslene Lim
105^th – Sophia Schiminovich

Division I Challenger Women’s Sabre
72^nd – Kira Erikson

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Northwestern kicks off its dual slate at the Western Invitational, November 7-8, in San Diego, Calif.