Four men's and four women's fencers set out for Brandeis University's Gosman Sports Center in Waltham, Mass., last week for the NCAA Championships. They returned after capturing seventh place as a team, with sophomore foil Jacqueline Leahy leading the way with a fourth-place finish.
Princeton sent competitors in five categories — men's and women's foil, men's and women's epee and women's sabre.
Leahy had earned a regional victory in her weapon group and was determined to prove herself on the national stage. She battled her way into third place in a field of 24 during the women's first four rounds on Thursday.
She dropped one spot over three rounds the next day to finish fourth in her weapon group, but she still emerged from the weekend as the Tigers' highest finisher. Along the way, she posted 18 victories and a +43 advantage in touches scored versus touches received.
On Thursday and Friday, three freshmen did their parts in securing Princeton's seventh-place standing on the women's part. Competing in foil along with Leahy, Sara Jew-Lim placed 17th. Mina Morova placed 11th in sabre, adding 11 victories to the team total. Erin McGarry placed 14th in epee, earning 11 more victories to the team's total of 48 after the second day.
Saturday and Sunday, it was up to the men to maintain that spot at No. 7. Over the course of those two days, the four male Tigers added 31 victories to the team's final total.
Senior Eric Stodola led the men with 10 victories and a 13th-place finish in foil.
Sophomore epee Ben Solomon, who finished fifth last season, placed a disapointing 19th in the national field this weekend. Solomon had been recovering from an earlier foot surgery and had missed every national tournament this season.
"My mechanics were a little bit off, and I'm just not up to full speed after the surgery," Solomon said.
Freshman foil Alejandro Bras and sophomore epee Fenil Ghodadra both took 21st place in their respective weapon groups. That Ghodadra is competing at the national level is particularly impressive since he switched from foil to epee in the last year.
With 79 victories overall, Princeton managed to keep its hold on seventh place, finishing just behind fifth-place Columbia-Barnard and sixth-place Penn.
The Ohio State team earned 194 victories for a dominating first-place finish. The Buckeyes topped second-place Notre Dame, which had held a one-point lead after the women's competition, and third-place Penn Sate, which was not far behind the Fighting Irish.
The Tigers were happy with another top-10 finish — they earned sixth place last year at the NCAA championships.
"We weren't really looking for any particular number, as far as the standings go," Solomon said. "We had a pretty young squad, and we were hoping for people to get some experience under their belts."
Out of the eight fencers sent to the NCAA championships, four were freshmen and three were sophomores. The strength offered by the team's youth bodes well for next season.
"We've got an ability to compete at a much higher level next year," Solomon said. "We're losing some of our leaders, but we're bringing back a tremendous group of kids."
For now, however, Princeton is content to celebrate this past weekend's successes.
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