W. Fencing

Harvard women's fencing Captain Penelope Papailias paced the sidelines at the Northeast Regionals Saturday in New Haven, repeating the phrase "St. Stephen" to herself.

Who is St. Stephen? Papailias says she is not sure. She is not even sure if there is a saint called Stephen. (In fact, there is.)

But for the third consecutive year, the unknown saint helped the Crimson to a second-place finish in the Northeast Regionals, as well as a spot in the NCAA championships, which will be held April in Chicago.

The Crimson clinched an NCAA bid with its victory over host Yale in the semifinals. Although the final score was tied, 8-8, Harvard won the first tiebreaker by registering two more touches than Yale.

"We were praying on the sidelines," Papailias said. "Ever since we beat Yale at regionals two years ago, we have been praying to St. Stephen when we get to regionals."

Harvard (13-2) clinched the match by going up, 8-6. Yale captured the final two matches, but three touches by Kristina Perkin held the Bulldogs off.

Perkin and Papailias each barely missed out qualifying in the individual competition. The two top seeds advance to the NCAAs and Perkin finished sixth, while Papailias place seventh. The two must hope they are among the five wild-card bids to be selected March 20.

Harvard fell in the finals to Columbia, 9-2, for the second consecutive year. The Crimson swept through the first three rounds with victories over Wellesley, MIT and Brown.

"Whenever we get into a pinch," Papailias said, "we pray to St. Stephen. And St. Stephen came through for us again."