DETROIT (9/14/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's fencing programs, under the direction of head coach Todd Dressell, has released its award winners for the 2019-20 season, it was announced on Monday. The fencing program usually announces the awards at its year-end banquet in April, but the banquet was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Sophomore Jaydon Alojipan (sabre) was named as the Team MVP for the men's fencing program, while sophomore Manal Shaito (foil) earned the honor for the Titan women's fencing program for the second-straight season. Alojipan led the sabre team in his first season in the weapon and finished 10th at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in March, improving upon four spots from his initial seeding in the tournament. He had a team-high 37 wins overall during the season and also placed 21st individually at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships.

Shaito had the top finish of any women's fencer at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, placing in a tie-for-14th, going 8-1 overall. The sophomore foilist also qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship for the second-straight season and placed 18th at the event, which was held at Calihan Hall this past season. She amassed a team-high 56 wins during the season in foil and through two seasons in the red, white and blue, has 118 victories for the Titans.

Earning the Newcomer of the Year honors were sophomore foilist Kurt Romkema for the men's team and senior sabreur Savannah Sloan for the women's squad. Romkema was in his first year of fencing for the Titans in 2019-20 and finished with the most amount of bout wins on the men's foil team. Sloan was also in her first year of fencing and showed improvement throughout the season.

The Most Improved honors went to men's epeeist and senior Christopher Morrison and women's sabreur and sophomore Justine Hickey. Hickey was named the Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and continued to show strides in her sophomore season in the red, white and blue as she had 23 victories for the Titans. Morrison wrapped up his four-year career with the Titans, leading the epee team with a career-best 31 triumphs (second on the squad) and placing 38th individually at the MFC Championships.

Freshman Joey Kachacki received the Pincushion award for the Titans. The Pincushion award is presented to one male and female fencer who accrued a large amount of losses during the season and based on potential, is the coach's pick to improve in the future. No selection was made on the Titan women's fencing squad for the 2019-20 season.
 
The Titan fencing program looks ahead to the 2020-21 academic school year. Stay tuned for more updates from the program.