Fencing: Tigers split matches to open Ivy play

The women’s team’s 14-13 loss to Harvard was characterized by a series of hard-fought bouts by both teams. Freshman foilist Lucile Jarry was outstanding, going 3-0 against her Harvard opponents.

Her success included a victory over Emily Cross, who made it to the round of 32 in the 2008 Olympics. The Tigers defeated Harvard 11-7 in foil and saber, but these strong performances were not enough to pull out an overall victory, as the Tigers were outmatched in epee (7-2).

“There were many close 5-4 bouts that could have gone either way. You don’t want to say it, but it might have come down to luck. It was almost a coin toss,” senior epeeist and co-captain Jasjit Bhinder said. “Everyone worked really hard.”

The Tigers obtained solid victories against Penn and Cornell, going 16-11 and 15-12, respectively. Jarry made strong contributions, continuing her form with a 9-0 record for the day. Freshman epeeist Susannah Scanlan lost only one bout, and freshman sabrist Bianca Cabrera had an outstanding performance in which she came back from a four-point deficit, to win 5-4.

“Fencing is an individual sport. Most players have competed so individualistically in high school, and then they are thrown into a college environment where teamwork is important in order to win,” Bhinder said.

She added, “The Princeton fencing team does a great job of cheering the team on. Most schools don’t take full advantage of the potential for teamwork.”

On the men’s side against Harvard, Princeton had similar successes in foil and saber, winning 14 out of 18 bouts. For the men, this was enough for an overall victory. It was a big win for Princeton, as the Tigers lost to Harvard at the Ivy League Championships in the 2007-08 season. Junior foilist Clayton Flanders and freshman foilist Alexander Mills each won all of three of their bouts against Harvard. The overall score was 17-10 in Princeton’s favor.

Against Penn, Tiger sabrists and foilists struggled, with the exception of Mills, who was again undefeated in his bouts. The epeeists won with a solid 7-2, with 3-0 performances by sophomore Graham Wicas and freshman Cooper Gegan.

“I feel like the bouts against each team served to highlight our strength of how we are maturing as a team and are very tough in each weapon and no longer have a weak link. Against Harvard, our saber and foil teams showed their strength, and against Penn, our epee team showed our strength, and our foil team narrowly lost,” Flanders said.

“That being said, our mental toughness could use some work: We came out flat against [the Quakers], and they took the momentum and carried it through until the end. I am proud of all the Princeton fencers at the meet and how everyone gave 100 percent to win.”

Looking toward the Ivy League “North” competition in Providence, R.I., on Feb. 22, which will decide the final Ivy League standings, members of both teams expressed a desire to take advantage of the team’s strengths, including the strong chemistry that both the men’s and women’s teams have demonstrated so far this season.

“A personal goal would be to qualify a second time for the NCAA national championships. However, I am much more committed to our team goals,” Flanders said.

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He added, “The major team goal, as always, is to win the Ivy League competition, with secondary goals of having a strong showing at NCAA regionals [and] nationals and at [the Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) tournament].”

Before the teams can finish off their Ivy League schedules and members can take part in the NCAA individual tournament and the IFAs, the Junior Olympics will take place in Albuquerque, N.M., from Feb. 13 to Feb. 16.