All good things must come to an end, and after four days of competition in Los Angeles for April’s North American Cup, Northwestern ended the season with a bang. Or, perhaps with a touch. On the final day of competition, four Wildcat fencers stepped up for the Junior Women’s Sabre with Nisha Hild taking it all among 183 total competitors. Hild’s only loss on the day came to Nicole Lin in pool play. From there, she took off. Having already secured five wins and a +13 indicator in pool play, Hild secured seven consecutive victories to put the gold around her neck when all was said and done. Hild was close before, with a bronze medal in Louisville in November, but this was her first victory at a North American Cup. Her prior victories came in the regional circuit, with the last being in September 2023. Rounding out the Junior Women’s Sabre for the ‘Cats were NCAA qualifier Natalie Shearer in 19th and Kira Erikson in 166th. Also of note are the fencers sitting in 21st and 44th, Elaine Lu and Sophia Schiminovich. These two have officially committed to Northwestern as members of the Class of 2029. They’ll be the only new additions to the Sabre for Head Coach Zach Moss. If that was not enough for the Wildcat faithful, those five fencers also competed in the Division I classification Friday. While this competition saw fewer heroics, there were excellent performances for the ‘Cats all around. Hild finished in 17th, with Shearer once again shortly behind in 27th. Junior Megumi Oishi finished 57th, Adele Bois in 66th and Erikson at 113. Lu and Schiminovich also competed with the former placing 75th. Pool play saw impressive performances from Hild, who went 5-1 with a +14 indicator, and Bois, who, due to a smaller pool, secured a 4-1 record with a +8 indicator. In the tableau, however, Bois suffered an early upset at the hands of Notre Dame’s Chelsea Delsoin. With Delsoin being a freshman for the Fighting Irish and Bois being a sophomore, these two will have plenty of opportunities to compete again. Don’t be surprised to see these two on the strip in next year’s action. In the Foil, Northwestern’s hopes were riding on the shoulders of just one fencer: Samantha Serban. The junior went 4-2 in pool play and secured a tableau victory before falling to Viviene Goor for a 20th-place final finish. Finally, the Division I Women’s Épée was set to be the swan song for graduate student Amanda Pirkowski and senior Athina Kwon. The two made the most of their final opportunity representing Northwestern, with Pirkowski finishing in 10th after a loss to eventual champion Catherine (Kasia) Nixon knocked her out. Kwon had a rough showing in pool play but battled back, notching two upsets in the tableau en route to a 31st-place finish. Junior Anna Damratoski also finished in the top 16 alongside Pirkowski, with NCAA qualifier Karen Wang in 77th and sophomore Ava Wade-Currie rounding out the squad at 116. In a true transition to a new group of fencers next season, incoming first-year Natasha Lee defeated Anna Damratoski in pool play. They both fell to the same fencer, Isis Washington, in the tableau no less. As the new guard duke it out in bouts with Northwestern veterans, it has become increasingly clear that the previous era of Northwestern fencing has come to an end. With that, however, it has also become increasingly clear that the program is in good hands. Undoubtedly, there’ll be many new faces for fans to look forward to next season, in Evanston and across the circuit.