Fencing eighth at NCAAs

The fencing team finished eighth at the 2005 NCAA fencing championships. The men's and women's squads combined to total 77 points, 60 points behind Ivy League rival Columbia, which finished in fifth, and 96 points behind national champion Notre Dame.

The Tigers earned the bulk of their points in the epee. Sophomore epee Erin McGarry placed sixth individually, complemented by junior epee Kira Hohensee's 24th-place finish. The two combined for 20 points.

In the men's division, senior epee Soren Thompson took bronze at third place. He now owns a complete set of NCAA medals — Thompson won gold his freshman year and silver his sophomore year.

Additionally, junior epee Ben Solomon took ninth place. Princeton's men's epee fencers gave the Tigers their single biggest block of points, contributing 29 to the 77 point total.

Princeton also racked up critical points in the foil division. Junior Jacqueline Leahy took third in the women's competition, winning 13 bouts. Meanwhile, on the men's side, sophomore Alejandro Bras placed 18th for the Tigers.

The six fencers qualified for the championship meet with their strong performances at Regionals, where the men finished third and the women finished fifth as a team.

Thompson shines for USA in Athens Olympics

After taking a year off from Princeton to focus on training, senior Soren Thompson made a name for himself on the world's grandest stage with his performance at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece last August.

After winning his opening round bout, Thompson jumped to a 5-0 lead against the world's top-ranked epee fencer, Alfredo Rota of Italy, en route to a 15-13 victory.

Though Thompson lost his ensuing quarterfinal bout, his seventh-place finish was the best showing by an American male fencer at the Olympics since 1956.