Roar Briefs

Columbia Fencing Scores Two Winning Seasons

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Samarth Kumbla ’27 earned the NCAA men’s foil title in March.

COURTESY COLUMBIA ATHLETICS

olumbia’s fencing teams turned in two stellar seasons, capped by an individual NCAA title and two Ivy League crowns.


In March, Samarth Kumbla ’27 earned the NCAA men’s foil title, defeating defending champ Chase Emmer of Notre Dame in a 15–8 victory. Kumbla became the first men’s champion from the Lions since 2022 and the 31st NCAA men’s champion in program history. In April, he was named National Men’s Foil Collegiate Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA).

“I’m so happy, especially having my entire team here,” Kumbla told ESPN+ after taking the NCAA championship. “To be able to bring [this title] home and see them just as excited as I am means the world to me. I have an amazing team, coaches, parents and brother. This is everything I could have asked for in a fencing career.”

Elsewhere at the tournament, held in Notre Dame, Ind., Lions earned third place in two events: Marsel Nagimov ’27 in foil and Will Morrill ’28 in sabre. The men’s team finished second overall with 81 victories, trailing Notre Dame, which racked up 91.

On the women’s side at the NCAAs, Caroline Stutchbury ’28 finished second place in foil, while Zander Rhodes ’26 finished third. Nicole Xuan ’29 placed third in epee (and went on to be named the Women’s Epee Newcomer of the Year by the USFCA). The team overall took second place, edged out by Notre Dame, 102–99.

In February, both the men’s and women’s fencing programs captured Ivy League titles. The women earned an outright championship after finishing a perfect 6–0, while the men went 4–1 to tie Harvard for first place. Stutchbury, meanwhile, captured the women’s foil individual title.

The dual victory marked the sixth time since 2015 and the 13th time overall that Columbia has swept both the men’s and women’s events. The women secured their 15th Ivy League title, while the men captured their 43rd, both the most among Ivy League programs.

Team Highlights

NCAA

The women’s basketball team, led by head coach Megan Griffith ’07, took first place in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament in April, defeating BYU 81–64. Mia Broom ’27 led the way in the title game with 23 points, while Riley Weiss ’26 notched 20. Weiss went on to be named WBIT Most Outstanding Player, averaging 21.2 points, NCAA shooting 47 percent from the field and 43 percent (13 of 30) from 3-point range across the five games.


In archery, Alena Lipscomb ’28 capped a standout season in May by earning the women’s collegiate national title in recurve, with her teammate Eunice Choi ’27 taking second place. The Lions also took bronze in women’s recurve and women’s compound team events. Lipscomb, Choi and Lillian Han ’26 competed in recurve, while Sydney Sullenberger ’26, Giselle DeSousa ’26 and Briana Moore ’28 formed the compound team.

The wrestling team became Ivy League champions in February for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 1982. They finished the season with a flawless 5–0 record in Ivy League competition, going 11–3 overall.

Lavine Family Makes Historic $10 Million Gift to Lion’s Basketball

On Jan. 12, Athletics announced a $10 million gift to men’s and women’s basketball from Jeannie and Jonathan S. Lavine ’88 and their family. The gift, one of the largest in the history of the Athletics program, provides support for both teams and endows the women’s head coaching position; the role, held by Megan Griffith ’07, is now known as the Lavine Family Head Coach of Women’s Basketball.

Lavine is a University Trustee Emeritus and a senior advisory partner of Bain Capital, a leading global private investment first based in Boston. From 2005 to 2025, he was part of the Boston Celtics’ ownership group. The Lavine family includes daughters Allison Lavine ’16 and Emily Lavine Rosin ’18 and son-in-law Nathan Rosin ’18.