Hurme second in men's epee at Tigers' first tourney

Princeton fencing opened its season this weekend with strong performances on both the women's and men's sides at the Penn State Garret Open.

The Tigers, who had a total of five top-10 finishes between the men's and women's squads, had a good start that gives the team a positive outlook for the rest of the season.

Senior captain Owen Cornwall said he thought the team did very well this weekend.

"This tournament bodes well for the rest of the season," Cornwall said. "The Penn State Garrret Open always has world-class competition."

The Princeton men had two top-eight finishes, with sophomore Tommi Hurme placing second and senior Ben Solomon coming in third in the epée event. Hurme and Solomon finished behind Penn State's Arthur Urman. Urman, an Israeli national junior champion, narrowly defeated Solomon in an overtime semifinal match and edged Hurme, 15-13, in the final bout.

"These results are exceptional, as our guys swim upstream against many teams that increasingly give fencing scholarships," Cornwall said.

Epée was Princeton's strongest weapon at the Open. Led by Hurme and Solomon, the men's epée squad did well this weekend. Freshmen Max Peck and Noah Arjomand, senior Fenil Ghodadra and sophomore Matt Solomon placed 13th, 35th, 25th and 39th, respectively.

Cornwall was the top finisher for the men in the sabre event, placing 19th in a field of 44. He was joined by sophomores Jon Winnerman, David Leffler and Robert Brenner, who placed 20th, 27th and 28th, respectively. Junior Eric Besson and freshman Siddharth Bhaskar placed 43rd and 44th, respectively.

In foil, the Princeton men were led by junior John-Paul Mitchell, who recorded a 17th-place finish out of 57. Senior Alexander Vandenberg-Rhodes, sophomore Douglas Hohensee and freshman Jonathan Mayer placed 24th, 27th and 52nd, respectively, at the Open.

Leahy leads women

The Tiger women had a trio of top-10 finishers — senior Jacqueline Leahy placed third in the foil, freshman Jasjit Bhinder placed ninth in the epée and junior Sara Jew-Lim finished 10th in the foil event. Leahy finished behind Ohio State's All-American Hanna Thompson, who won her second straight Garret Open, and Harvard's Emily Cross.

Bhinder, who led the women in the epée this weekend, was joined by junior Erin McGarry, who placed 11th, seniors Kira Hohensee and Rachel Zuraw, a 'Prince' copy editor, who placed 21st and 50th respectively, and freshman Jane Yum, who placed 35th.

In sabre, the Princeton women's top finisher was sophomore Cara DiGirolamo, who placed 12th in a field of 42. Junior Elan DiMaio, freshmen Anastasia Dubov and Sara Pfau and sophomore Allison Wuertz placed 25th, 30th, 36th and 38th, respectively, to round out the scoring in the sabre event.

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Sophomore Peri Rosenstein joined Leahy and Jew-Lim on the foil squad, placing 32nd.

Though the tournament is focused on individual performances, the Tigers still say that their showing demonstrates what can be expected from them this year.

"We had strong finishes in all three weapons," junior co-captain Elan DiMaio said, "and, considering that it is so early in the season, I think that we can look forward to a successful season. That being said, there are still things we can work on. The beauty of having the tournament so early this year is that we have more time to highlight those areas and improve on them before our dual meet season picks up."