Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Release

PHILADELPHIA – The Haverford College women's fencing team had two student-athletes voted to the 2015-16 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area at-large team. The all-area team is voted on by the sports information offices of the 29 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Both senior captains on the women's fencing team, Julie Petersen earned recognition on the all-area team for the second straight season. Leila Braun earned her first recognition on this list.

The at-large teams take into account those student-athletes from area schools whose sports do not have a dedicated Academic All-Area team. In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, an athlete must be in at least his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better.

Petersen, an epee fencer, finishes her career as a three-time All-EWFC and All-NIWFA fencer. All three of Petersen's All-EWFC honors came as a first team representative. She was also a first-team All-NIWFA fencer on two occasions and earned second-team honors during her freshman season. Petersen finished her career as a four-time NCAA regional qualifier, earning the "at-large" seat to the NCAA Championship with an eight-place finish during the 2013 season.

Braun was one of 16 Ambler Scholar-Athletes from Haverford across all this year's senior student-athletes from of all 23 varsity sports. She earned inclusion on the NIWFA's All-Academic team this past season. The Fords' co-captain was a two-time All-EWFC fencer in foil, earning first-team inclusion during the 2012 season. In order to help her team this season, she joined the epee squad and was Haverford's highest placing fencer at the NCAA regional as she placed 20th overall.

With its two co-captains leading the epee squad, women's fencing placed third at the EWFC Championship and fifth at the NIWFA Championship. As a team, the Fords finished the 2015-16 season with 15 duel victories.