"I've had just about enough of your Vassar-bashing, young lady."
Homer Simpson's words may not echo in the ears of the Princeton men's and women's fencing teams, but both squads certainly want to do a little bashing at Vassar this weekend. The teams travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for the Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championships at Walker Field House at Vassar College.
Both teams are in the midst of the toughest stretch of competition of their season, fresh off playing host for the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet and with the NCAA Championships looming in March.
Men split H-Y-Ps
The men's fencing team is coming off a 1-1 record in the H-Y-P event on a day that also included a win over Duke.
The Tigers swept the Blue Devils in all three weapons, then beat Yale with a 7-2 win in sabre, a 6-3 win in foil, and a close 5-4 loss in epee.
Rival Harvard earned a tough victory, getting a 6-3 win in sabre and a 5-4 win in epee but losing the foil competition, 5-4.
After the loss, the men still had reason to be proud as three Tigers were named Tuesday to the All-Ivy team.
Sophomore epee Benjamin Solomon was named to the first team after racking up an impressive 10-2 league record.
Sophomore epee Fenil Ghodadra and sophomore sabre Owen Cornwall both picked up second-team honors after finishing with 7-5 records.
Women win rivalry
The women's team was successful in its H-Y-P attempt while also cruising past Duke. Both the sabre (8-1 against Yale, 6-3 against Harvard) and foil teams (6-3 against Yale, 6-3 against Harvard) earned victories versus both opponents, but the epee squad (6-3 against Yale, 6-3 against Harvard) lost in both instances.
The most recent highlight for the women, however, was the Tuesday announcement that they had one-upped the men's team by placing four Tiger fencers onto the coveted All-Ivy team — two on the first team, and two more on the second team.
Sophomore foil Jacqueline Leahy, an obvious choice for the award, headlines the quartet with her unblemished 15-0 record and recent win in the Under-20 division a week ago at the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Cleveland. The top seed in a field of 170 fencers now has an All-Ivy accolade to add to her list.
Freshman Sara Jew-Lim, Leahy's teammate on the foil squad, was also named to the team after compiling a 10-5 league record.
Sophomore epee Kira Hohensee and freshman epee Erin McGarry both received second team honors after compiling identical 9-6 records in Ivy League play.
IFA on their mind
But both teams must now put the personal accolades behind and focus on the IFA Championship run. Each squad will send its top three fencers in each weapon — sabre, foil, and epee — to compete.
The men came up short last year in the team competition but have their eyes on the top this time around.
"We expect to win," senior foil Eric Stodola said.
Ivy-champion Columbia figures to be the toughest test for the Tiger men, Stodola said, while rivals Penn and Harvard are also among the best teams in the field.
The women are the defending champions but know it will not be easy to repeat.
"We lost to Penn and Columbia this year," Jew-Lim said, "so we are looking to redeem ourselves."
After Saturday, perhaps both teams will have all the redemption they need.
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