Postseason nears as fencing squads host Harvard, Yale, Duke

The Princeton men's and women's fencing teams have a lot to look forward to for the rest of February. This weekend the Tigers host Harvard, Yale and Duke at Jadwin Gymnasium.

"Although we take every match seriously, Harvard and Yale are particularly big for us because they are Ivy League opponents," senior Eric Stodola said. "Our primary goal every year is to win the Ivy League, so we are working hard and will try to win every bout on Saturday."

Harvard and Yale have both had successful, though not unblemished, seasons thus far. Both squads — like the Tigers — fell to an exceptionally strong Columbia team. The Crimson and the Elis, as well as Duke, will all present a difficult challenge for Princeton.

"It will be tough so we are preparing as much as we can," head coach Michel Sebastiani said.

Earlier this week, one Tiger reestablished herself among the premier fencers in the nation. Sophomore Jacqueline Leahy took first in the foil competition in the Under-20 division at the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Cleveland, Ohio.

Leahy, who did not fence at the tournament last year after sweeping the U-17 and U-20 in both 2001 and 2002, was seeded first out of the 170 competitors.

"It's important to me because I've won it several times before," Leahy said. "People expected me to win, and I didn't want to fail their expectations."

Despite having a national champion leading them, however, Princeton's women could not handle Penn last Wednesday. The visiting Quakers demolished the Tigers, 18-9. Although Princeton's foil squad, led by Leahy, held its own, winning 5-4, the single victory was far from enough, as the Tigers fell 6-3 in epee and 8-1 in saber.

The Princeton men's fencing team faired better, however, defeating Penn 14-13 overall. A strong performance in the epee event was crucial, as sophomores Ben Solomon and Fenil Ghodadra and freshman Gregory Haislip led the way for the Tigers.

Princeton also captured the sabre competition, 5-4, but fell in the foil matches, 6-3.

Looking ahead

This weekend's matches are the last of the regular season competitions. After Harvard, Yale and Duke travel here, the Tigers make their way to Providence, R.I., where Brown hosts the Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championships next weekend.

After a few weeks out of competition, the Tigers will gear up again on March 13 for NCAA Regionals held in Madison, N.J., which serves as a precursor to NCAA Championships, held on the campus of Brandeis University two weeks later.

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Last year Princeton's men and women combined to take sixth place at NCAAs, and with a seasoned group of returners as well as additions of new talent from the underclassmen, the Tigers seek to improve upon that finish this season.

But before they take on NCAAs, the Tigers hope for overall success this weekend against the visiting Bulldogs, Crimson and Blue Devils.