Maggie Shealy M’25

This past weekend, Shealy made history by becoming the 27th person in Brandeis history to be a National Collegiate Athletic Association champion. She faced opponents from all three collegiate divisions at the 2024 NCAA National Collegiate Championships in Columbus, Ohio, at Ohio State University on March 21-24, 2024. On her first day of competition, Shealy went 12-3, giving her a bid for the championship round for the second year in a row. 

According to Brandeis Athletics, head fencing Coach Elif Soyer Sachs noted, “This is a tribute to the dynamic duo of Maggie and our saber coach, Matt Zich. They are an inspiration, taking the championship as the only woman in the competition from a Division III school across all three weapons.”

In the semifinal, Shealy faced the third seed from Columbia University, Vera Kong, and defeated her 15-9. In the final round, she faced fourth seed Julia Cieslar of St. John's University. Cieslar got a 3-1 lead, but Shealy won the next three points to get ahead 4-3 and then never looked back. She kept the lead for the rest of the match and won the national championship with a 15-10 score.

Shealy becomes only the second Division III fencer to win the all-around collegiate national championship. This championship caps off an incredibly successful career — a strong performance for the women’s saber team at Brandeis.

She returned home to the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center in Waltham on Sunday, March 24 to a rousing crowd of her teammates cheering her on. A huge congratulations to Shealy for making school history!

Tony Escueta ’25

Escueta was the representative for the Brandeis men’s saber fencing team at the NCAA championships and came away with his second All-American honor. The junior not only finished eighth individually but with Escueta and Shealy’s performance Brandeis placed 15th overall in the standings.

On the first day, Escueta went 9-6, and he was the highest men’s fencer finish in Brandeis history since Will Friedman ’09 who placed seventh. Escueta chased Friedman’s 14 wins with 13 of his own, and according to Brandeis Athletics, he is “Brandeis' first male two-time All-American in fencing since Tim Morehouse ’00 finished sixth and fourth in 1999 and 2000.”

Escueta, like Shealy, was warmly welcomed back to Gosman by a large crowd of his teammates cheering for him. Congratulations to Escueta on an impressive career! We look forward to seeing more of all that he has yet to accomplish.

Lev BenAvram ’26 also qualified for the NCAA championships for men’s saber but has chosen to instead compete at “an international World Cup event in Budapest, Hungary, with the hopes of qualifying for the U.S. Men's National Team and competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics,” per Brandeis Athletics.

Sam Dienstag ’24

Last Wednesday morning, Dienstag kicked off his final meet representing Brandeis at the swimming NCAA Division III Championships swimming in the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries. He won his heat with a time of 4:25.88 and earned his spot in the finals later that day. During the final, he earned a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:21.32, which broke his previous school record by 3.97 seconds earning him his fourth All-American honor. His time was only 0.54 seconds off the winner of the event and earned Brandeis 17 points. This was also the best finish by a Brandeis men’s swimmer at a NCAA Championship. The very next day he raced in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:40.60 —  slower than his seeded time and his personal record set earlier this season at a time of 1:39.43 — this placed him 42 overall, missing the qualifying time for finals. 

Last Saturday, March 23 Dienstag competed for the final time for Brandeis in the 1650-yard freestyle. In his heat, he placed second with a time of 15:28.56. He placed fifth, earning his overall fifth All-American honor and second in the 1650-yard freestyle. This performance also earned the Judges 14 points. Dienstag single-handedly scored 31 points for Brandeis which placed the Judges 24th in overall team standing — a program record. His performance at nationals also makes him the most decorated men’s swimmer in Brandeis history. He finishes his career at Brandeis holding four individual school records in the 200, 500, 1000 and 1650-yard freestyle as well as four relay records in the 200 and 800-yard freestyle relay, and in the 200 and 400 medley relays. 

As he bids farewell to his collegiate career, Dienstag leaves behind a legacy of hard work and his achievements are a testament to his dedication and skill. His presence on the team was an inspiration and he will be missed.

Dienstag was welcomed back to the Gosman by a cheering crowd of his teammates, a mark of his legacy at Brandeis. We congratulate him on an exemplary collegiate career and wish him luck in his future endeavors!