Newsday's All-Long Island girls fencing team 2025
Newsday's 2025 All-Long Island girls fencing team From left: Kiki Liu, Michelle Wu, Victoria Lin, Scarlett Shelley, Reese Birnstill, Gabriella Sherlock and coach Robert Moon. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Newsday’s Girls Fencer of the Year: Victoria Lin, Half Hollow Hills, epee, Sr.
It takes more than talent and medals to be the perfect athlete. It takes leadership and grace, and Lin has consistently displayed all of the above throughout her varsity career.
Her ability is undeniable, boasting a 36-2 regular-season record this winter with a 3-0 record in the playoffs. Despite fencing on varsity for only three years, she will graduate with a remarkable 105-7 record across the regular season and two playoff meets.
Lin also became the first fencer in Long Island history to win gold in two different disciplines, having won in foil in 2023 and now in epee in 2025. That flexibility is unique and explains in part why coach Steven Ferrantello describes her as “irreplaceable.”
Victoria Lin of Half Hollow Hills. Credit: /Derrick Dingle
“To have her transition to epee, it’s just a different challenge,” Ferrantello said. “Clearly she did very well, but you can see her being tested and really having to strategize and find different ways to win.”
But it’s the little things Lin does that make her stand out, with Ferrantello noting how the senior goes out of her way to help the girls and boys fencers. Her outgoing nature helped her join and win gold with Syosset’s foil team at Huntington’s Alan Kuver Memorial Relays after one of Syosset’s foilists dropped out.
“Just watching her have such a great relationship with all the kids — boys and girls — on our teams, it’s been really great to see her grow over the years,” Ferrantello said. “She’s a great example of a true champion.”
There hasn’t been a fencer quite like Lin, and there won’t be anytime soon.
FIRST TEAM
Reese Birnstill, Ward Melville, sabre, Sr.
Only one Suffolk girls fencer went undefeated throughout the regular season, with Birnstill’s 37-0 record proving her ability. She went 13-2 at the Suffolk Individuals en route to a silver medal and placed second with Ward Melville’s sabre team at Huntington’s Alan Kuver Memorial Relays. The senior also took silver at the Brentwood Holiday Tournament and went 3-0 in the county championship.
Kiki Liu, Ward Melville, foil, Sr.
Every time Liu seems to fence her best, she finds a way to be even better. Liu’s 36-2 regular-season record helped Ward Melville claim its second consecutive Suffolk title. The senior took gold at both the Brentwood Holiday Tournament and Suffolk Individuals.
Scarlett Shelley, Oyster Bay, sabre, Sr.
A gold medalist at the Brentwood Holiday Tournament and a silver medalist at the Nassau Individuals, Shelley saved arguably her best season for her last high school season. She went 28-2 this winter.
Gabriella Sherlock, Oyster Bay, foil, Jr.
No fencer displayed more dominance in their discipline than Sherlock, who went 23-0 this winter. She also defended her foil title at the Nassau Individual Championships, winning all eight of her bouts through pool play and into direct elimination bouts. She also placed second among 57 competing foilists at the Brentwood Holiday Tournament.
Michelle Wu, Great Neck South, epee, eighth grade
It’s hard to understate how impressive Wu has been for Great Neck South. Not only did she capture gold at the Brentwood Holiday Tournament by beating some of the best on Long Island in Victoria Lin, Ashley Nguyen and Misha Gujja, but she followed it up by capturing gold at the Nassau Individual Championships.
Boasting a 20-1 record, plus a 2-0 performance in the county semifinals against Syosset, Wu is only getting started for Great Neck South.
Coach of the Year: Robert Moon, Syosset
Moon coaches the boys and girls fencing teams for Syosset, both of which won Long Island titles with the latter winning its very first this winter. That alone has happened only once prior in Nassau, with Great Neck South accomplishing the feat in 2024.
But that’s just a small part of Moon’s achievements this winter. Syosset girls fencing entered the playoffs as a fourth-seeded team, one that held only a 4-3 record on Jan. 10. before finishing 10-3. Moon is retiring from coaching and said he wanted to leave with a Long Island title for the girls team.
Mission accomplished. With how his fencers rallied to win for their coach this season, it’s clear his impact on the program won’t be forgotten or unappreciated by those who triumphed alongside him.
SECOND TEAM
Newsday's All-Long Island fencing Coaches of the Year and girls fencing second team. From left: boys fencing Coach of the Year Steven Ferrantello, Evie Pierre-Louis, Sophie Chen, Misha Gujja, Nisa Eriskin, Meadow Dalberg, Esha Nayak and girls fencing Coach of the Year Robert Moon. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Sophie Chen, Newfield/Miller Place, foil, Soph.
A major reason why Newfield/Miller Place competes for a county title each year is because of rising talents such as Chen, who followed up a 29-3 freshman season with a remarkable 37-1 record this winter as a sophomore. She took silver at the Suffolk Individuals and tied for bronze at the Brentwood Holiday Tournament.
Meadow Dalberg, Newfield/Miller Place, foil, Sr.
Dalberg was one of six Suffolk girls fencers to win more than 90% of their overall bouts, touting a 32-3 record for a Newfield/Miller Place team that reached the Suffolk championship. She took bronze at the Suffolk Individuals, winning 12 of her 15 bouts with losses only to Ward Melville’s Kiki Liu and teammate Sophie Chen.
Nisa Eriskin, Commack, epee, Sr.
Eriskin is among the most dependable epeeists in Suffolk, going 28-5 and taking silver at the Suffolk Individuals with 12 wins across 15 bouts. The senior added an eighth-place finish at the Brentwood Holiday Tournament.
Misha Gujja, Jericho, epee, Sr.
Few did more for a program than Gujja did for Jericho, holding a 25-2 record this winter and winning all five of her combined bouts against Herricks and Syosset in the Nassau semifinals and championship meets, respectively. She also took silver among 56 competing epeeists at the Brentwood Holiday Tournament.
Esha Nayak, Syosset, sabre, Jr.
Nayak captured gold at Nassau Individuals, performing her best against the best with a plus-18 touch differential across three direct elimination bouts. She had a 19-5 record this winter for a Syosset squad that lifted its first Long Island title in program history.
Evie Pierre-Louis, Half Hollow Hills, sabre, Sr.
The senior went 26-5 overall across the regular season, performing her best at the Suffolk Individuals where she won gold. Pierre-Louis won 12 of her 15 bouts at the tournament and went 5-0 across the final pool.
