Chatham Fencer Takes Home National Honors In Philadelphia

CHATHAM, NJ — A Chatham fencer received top rankings at the 2021 USA Fencing National Championship in Philadelphia earlier in July.

Kailing Sathyanath took home a gold medal in the Senior Women’s Team Saber event with her team from Advance Fencing & Fitness Academy of Garwood.

She also finished in eighth place overall in the Division 1A Women’s Saber National Championships.

For full results from USA Fencing, the non-profit group that strives to “grow and promote the sport of fencing,” click here and here.

Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois recruited Sathyanath, who graduated with Chatham High School's Class of 2021, the university announcing in January that she was among six fencers who joined Northwestern Fencing for the Class of 2025.

Sathyanath committed to the Northwestern program in November, when Chatham High School hosted its “Initial Signing Day” for Division I and II student athletes who had already picked their colleges by Nov. 11, 2020.

Northwestern’s Head Coach for fencing, Zach Moss, described the recruits that included Sathyanath as fencers who will deliver “high level experience, strong training backgrounds and versatility to our team.”

A High Honor Roll student at Chatham, in her bio for Northwestern, Sathyanath’s accomplishments at that time included having finished 14th at the 2020 Junior Olympics in “Junior,” plus having taken home a silver medal with her Division I team and gold medal with Division II, during the 2019 April North American Cup. She additionally finished sixth in the Junior SJCC in March 2020.

“She is one of the hardest working student athletes I’ve seen and is a joy to work with,” Head Coach Aleks Ochocki at Advance Fencing & Fitness Academy, where Sathyanath has trained the past four years, told Patch.

RELATED: Chatham Students Sign College Commitment Letters

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.