Top fencers seek victory at NCAAs

This coming weekend, the gymnasium at Rice University will be overrun by men and women in white padded suits and face guards vying for a national title. The tournament marks the end of the collegiate fencing season and the toughest competition the six Princeton fencers will see this season.

With the combined pressure of midterms and preparing for the weekend, the three men and three women who qualified for the tournament are feeling both excited and nervous about this weekend's NCAA Championships.

Senior foil Jacqueline Leahy will make her fourth and final appearance at the NCAAs this weekend. This season she went undefeated in the Ivy League, one of only two fencers, men or women, to do so this season. Leahy plans to defend her All-America status and repeat her performance at Regionals that earned her the top spot on the podium. Seventh is the worst Leahy has placed at NCAAs, and her third place finish last year is her best.

Leahy's teammate, junior epee Erin McGarry, has much in common with Leahy, including All-America status, a first team All-Ivy commendation and a gold medal at Regionals. McGarry slipped a couple places last year from her freshman outing in 2004, from fourth to sixth, but her record in the league this year was the best for epee. A scrappy fencer who fights for every single touch and whose performance has been getting stronger with each match, McGarry's eye is most certainly on the gold as well.

Solomon returns

Rounding out the returning fencers for Princeton is senior epee Ben Solomon. Solomon, who won the National Championship this summer against collegiate and non-collegiate competition, will be in the hunt for his own gold.

"As a senior, this is my last championship, and I'd like to go out with a great performance," Solomon said. "I really want to bring home a great result for Princeton and my coach, Marcos Lucchetti, who has worked so hard for the fencing team."

Solomon will have to be at his very best to win the gold. His toughest competition will likely come from Penn State's Arthur Urman, an Israeli national.

Solomon has traded wins with Urman all season, losing in the Penn State Garret Open but winning in a dual meet. He lost to Urman at Regionals, though Solomon was sick at the tme.

Solomon will also face a tough challenge in his teammate, sophomore Tommi Hurme, who was also second team All-Ivy League. The Intercollegiate Fencing Association champion this year, runner up at the Garret open and fourth at the NCAA regional March 4, Hurme has a lot of championship experience this season. Hurme is a first time contender at the NCAAs, since team quota rules kept him as a reserve for last year's championship.

With his eye on the gold, Hurme anticipates tough matches from St. Johns' Ben Bratton, Urman and Solomon, whom Hurme endearingly describes as a "beast." Hurme certainly has the talent to win the gold medal, but the question will be one of endurance and preparedness.

"At the end of Regionals I was kind of lagging and not fencing as hard as I could have. I'd like to finish the end of tournament very strong," Hurme said.

Also making his first appearance at the NCAAs is sophomore foil Douglas Hohensee. Despite placing ninth at the regional and missing the top seven automatic bid, Hohensee was chosen to compete in the National tournament by the selection committee.

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Another selection committee choice was junior foil Sara Jew-Lim, who will be competing in her second NCAA tournament of her career this year. Jew-Lim placed tenth at regionals and went 14-4 in the league for first team honors. Jew-Lim placed 17th at the 2004 NCAAs her freshman season but missed qualifying for last year's tournament by a few spots.

"I think we're all feeling excited about NCAAs," Jew-Lim said. "It's a really fun tournament, and while our team is really small, I think that we'll be able to put up some great individual results."