Spring Break
Fencing teams are a new force in the conference
Issue date: 12/6/07
- Page 1 of 2 next >
The men's and women's fencing teams continued their strong seasons, each competing this past weekend in separate tournaments. The common theme in each of the tournaments seemed to be strong freshmen adjusting well to collegiate fencing.
The women competed at the 76th annual NIWFA Christmas invitational on Sunday morning. The event was held at the Cobra Fencing Academy in Jersey City, N.J. The open event drew 129 competitors, representing 30 different colleges and universities, including powerhouses like Temple, Rutgers and Stevens. The entrants had to endure three rounds of pools in order to advance to a final round, consisting of nine finalist fencers in each of the weapons.
Last year at the event, the women were able to place five fencers in the finals. This year, they matched that number, but improved in terms of placement. The depth of the squad was seen as the Jays had finalists in each of the three weapons.
In the foil, junior Grace Fried placed second overall, followed closely by sophomore Katie Kim and freshman Sophia de Benedictis, who finished sixth and seventh respectively. In the epee, junior captain Cindy Liu fenced her way to an eighth-place finish. Freshman Alysson Mondoro was the lone Blue Jay in the finals for the sabre, in which she finished ninth.
Alysson, a walk-on to the team who had never fenced before coming to Hopkins, was able to put her newly-learned skills to the test. "It was exciting to place," Mondoro said. "I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season."
Sophomore Katie Kim summed up the hopes of the women's team for the remainder of the season. "Our goal is to keep up the strong performances we've shown so far."
On the men's side, this past weekend brought two separate tournaments. On Saturday, the Jays were at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for the Penn Multi-Meet. It was the first meet of the year, as the first two competitions at Temple and Penn State were open events for individuals.
The women competed at the 76th annual NIWFA Christmas invitational on Sunday morning. The event was held at the Cobra Fencing Academy in Jersey City, N.J. The open event drew 129 competitors, representing 30 different colleges and universities, including powerhouses like Temple, Rutgers and Stevens. The entrants had to endure three rounds of pools in order to advance to a final round, consisting of nine finalist fencers in each of the weapons.
Last year at the event, the women were able to place five fencers in the finals. This year, they matched that number, but improved in terms of placement. The depth of the squad was seen as the Jays had finalists in each of the three weapons.
In the foil, junior Grace Fried placed second overall, followed closely by sophomore Katie Kim and freshman Sophia de Benedictis, who finished sixth and seventh respectively. In the epee, junior captain Cindy Liu fenced her way to an eighth-place finish. Freshman Alysson Mondoro was the lone Blue Jay in the finals for the sabre, in which she finished ninth.
Alysson, a walk-on to the team who had never fenced before coming to Hopkins, was able to put her newly-learned skills to the test. "It was exciting to place," Mondoro said. "I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season."
Sophomore Katie Kim summed up the hopes of the women's team for the remainder of the season. "Our goal is to keep up the strong performances we've shown so far."
On the men's side, this past weekend brought two separate tournaments. On Saturday, the Jays were at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for the Penn Multi-Meet. It was the first meet of the year, as the first two competitions at Temple and Penn State were open events for individuals.
Be the first to comment on this story