Young women's squad looks to rebuild after loss of much of last season's roster

Holding the Ivy League Title for the past three years in a row and placing fifth overall when combined with the men's team at NCAAs, the women's fencing team has quite a reputation to uphold.

The team lost four talented fencers this year, and many members of this year's team are not competing due to study abroad or to taking time off. To say the least, it is a year of changes for Princeton.

The team has already competed at the Penn State Invitational. Senior epee Maya Lawrence placed third and fellow senior epee Lindsay Campbell placed fourth. Junior foil Mindy Rostal also placed third in her division.

To start competing against Penn State serves as a good gauge for where the team is headed. The Nittany Lions have placed in the top three in the nation the past few years, but they are not an impossible obstacle. The Tigers' epee squad has beaten Penn State in the past.

Overall, it seems as though epee is the team's greatest strength.

"Our epee squad is probably one of the strongest in the country," head coach Michel Sebastiani said.

Campbell and Lawrence have both placed in the Top 10 at NCAAs, and Campbell's return should make up for the loss of Kristina Hurme '01.

"Epee is very experienced. In the four years I've been here, we've always been very strong," Campbell said.

As for the other weapons, there seem to be a number of changes.

The foil squad will likely be weaker than last year's, having lost last year's captain and No. 2 foil fencer Lisa Leslie '01 to graduation. The foil squad will suffer an even greater hit next semester when junior Mindy Rostal leaves to study abroad. Princeton will be relying largely on freshmen to fill these spots.

"As far as Ivies go for foil, none of the other teams have gotten stronger. Columbia's best fencer competed in the Olympics and graduated, so we should easily uphold our title," said Rostal.

Sabre is probably the youngest of the three weapons. The recent introduction of the sabre has made it difficult to see where the competition lies, since many teams are relatively new.

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"I think things are really up in the air for sabre," said squad leader junior Miya Tokumitsu, "We lost a lot of seniors and so we are really weighted with freshmen."

With three freshmen, the squad looked at this past invitational as more of an experience than a competition.

"I wanted the freshmen to see the competition. It's important because I tend to look at the Invitational as a way to check out the other teams before the season gets underway," said Tokumitsu.

Princeton looks to have a team that will be the front-runner for the Ivy League title going into the league season.

"In the past three to four years, we were number one in the nation for non-athletic-scholarship schools," Sebastiani said.

The main challenges for the team come with the non-Ivies. Notre Dame, St. John's and Penn State are all well-known for their strong recruitment of European fencers, many of whom have competed at the Olympic level.

"Last year, our girls destroyed St. John's, which has lots of great European fencers. Four weeks later, St. John's was the national champion," Sebastiani said.

Despite the challenges of Penn State coming up in a tournament that includes NYU and North Carolina, the women's team has something for which most other teams cannot vouch.

"I know people are always impressed with our team spirit. I think it's one of the things we're known for," Campbell said.

The team camaraderie is especially important for the squads with younger fencers, like sabre.

"We have something the other teams don't have. In the 20 years I've been here, I've never witnessed any hard feelings between the men or women; and it's a great support system," said Sebastiani.

Despite losing a number of fencers, the Tigers can still expect an Ivy League title and a good showing for individuals in the NCAAs.