Princeton is looking for a repeat of last year, when it swept both the men’s and women’s competitions, the first title for either team since 2001.
The Ivy League dominates the national polls with four of the teams ranked in the top eight on each side. For the men, Harvard leads the pack at the No. 2 spot and will be the team to beat this weekend. Princeton sits as No. 6, just above No. 7 Penn and No. 8 Columbia.
The Crimson succeeded in a schedule full of heavy competition, defeating No. 3 St. John’s University, No. 5 Ohio State University and No. 9 Duke, as well as Penn and Columbia. Although it lost to top-ranked Notre Dame, Harvard’s only other defeat came at the hands of No. 4 Penn State, against which Harvard has split this season.
Both the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish beat the Princeton men’s team; however, the Tigers boast victories over the Nittany Lions and No. 10 Stanford.
On the women’s side, the Tigers are ranked fourth, just one spot behind the Crimson, again the top-seeded Ivy team. No. 6 Columbia and No. 8 Penn are also likely to be in the mix. Princeton’s women boast the most recent recipient of the National Fencer of the Week award, freshman Eve Levin, who went 11-1 in last weekend’s competition, including going undefeated in three battles with top-ranked Notre Dame.
The Tigers enter the competition as the defending champions after posting a 6-0 record at last season’s event. Princeton edged eventual runner-up Columbia, 15-12, at the 2010 Ivy Championships. This year, the hosts will try to claim back-to-back titles for the first time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Columbia, which earned first-place honors in 2007 and 2008, was the last team to win consecutive championships.
In the 28-year history of the women’s championships, the Ivy champion has finished with an undefeated record in every season except two. Each match will therefore be of utmost importance to the Tigers in their quest for consecutive titles.
The Crimson women have beaten No. 2 Penn State twice, along with victories over No. 5 St. John’s and Penn. However, they also lost to No. 1 Notre Dame, Columbia and No. 10 Ohio State. Princeton had varying success against the top opponents. The women’s team earned a victory over No. 9 Temple but fell in close matches against No. 2 Penn State, by two bouts, and No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 10 Ohio State, by one.
The headlining Harvard-Princeton bouts will be Saturday at 1:45 p.m. The Tigers will start with Cornell at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by Brown at 11:45 am and then the Harvard matchup. On Sunday, Princeton will face Columbia at 10 a.m., Yale at 1:15 p.m. and Penn at 2:30 p.m.
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