Both the men’s and women’s fencing teams competed on back-to-back days this past weekend at the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Championships at Vassar College on Saturday and the U.S. Collegiate Squad Championships on Sunday at NYU.
At the New England Collegiate Championships, the teams finished fifth overall with 135 points, though the men finished in second with 68 points. Both the saber and foil men’s squads finished in second place behind eventual champions Sacred Heart. On the women’s side, the saberists were the top finishers placing fifth overall.
On an individual note, Julian Cardillo ’14 earned a bronze medal in foil competition while Adam Mandel ’15 and Alex Powell ’12 finished fourth and fifth in saber and epee competition respectively. On the women’s side the Judges had a ninth place finish in each weapon: Vikki Nunley ’13 in foil, Zoe Messinger ’13 in saber and Leah Mack ’14 in epee.
At the U.S. Collegiate Championships, they used a similar format to that used in the Olympics, in which squads compete in a relay-style match to 45 with fencers rotating each time they reach a multiple of five. The Judges reached the quarterfinals in two weapons after pulling off upsets in the round of 16. The 10th-seeded men’s foil squad claimed victory against seventh-seeded Brown 45-43, behind Ethan Levy ’15 who outpointed his initial opponent, 10-5, giving the Judges a 15-13 lead. Additionally, Cardillo who had a 9-3 edge on his second time through the rotation gave the Judges a 30-28 lead that they would not give up. The Judges lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded St. John’s, 45-18, with Cardillo earning half of the Judges’ points.
In men’s saber action, the 10th-seeded Judges were the only lower-seeded team to advance to the round of 16 as they defeated seventh-seeded Brown 45-37. Mandel had a strong performance, gaining 24 of the Judges’ 45 points. While the Judges were unable to pull off the upset in the quarterfinals, they put a good scare into second-seeded St. John’s, losing only 45-40, behind a 10-point effort from Jess Ochs-Willard ’15.
Both the women’s saber and foil squads dropped first round matches to Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart respectively.
