Men's, Women's Fencers Place High at Regional Qualifiers

The Harvard men's and women's fencing team had a successful weekend, playing in a regional tournament held at Wellesley.

A regional committee was designated to select fencers based on their individual records and their performances over the course of the season.

These regional championships were a qualifying step towards the NCAA tournament. Harvard's strong showing in the regionals should translate to continued competition on the national level for a few of the Crimson fencers.

Almost all of the women's team was invited to Wellesley, and four members of the men's team were extended an invitation as well. Harvard's tremendous presence in the regionals was a tribute to the skill of the entire team.

The Wellesley tournament contained five separate events. The women competed in both foil and epee fencing, and the men participated in foil, epee and saber fencing.

Epee fencing is based on the dueling weapon, and the target is anywhere on the body. Ancient tradition dictated that the fight would end upon first blood. Foil fencing has a more limited target since it is based on a training weapon, and the target zone is the torso. A derivative of the cavalry sword, saber fencing is a cutting and thrusting weapon, and the target is anywhere above the waist.

Harvard foil fencer, sophomore Jill Katz, came in fourth place out of 47 participants in the region. Junior Sara Crasson also fenced foil, and came in 16th place. Junior Brindisi Chan also participated in the foil but didn't make it past the first round of competition.

Katrina Lundberg, Meredith Trauner and Valerie Uzzell fenced epee for Harvard, but sophomore Mallory Stewart led the women with a seventh place finish in the region.

The Crimson men also played well in the regional tournament. Paul Baez and Andrew Prihodko fenced epee, and Ted Afield and Lee Scheffler fenced saber. Scheffler came in sixth place.

"We are waiting for the committee to make its ruling on the NCAAs," Crasson said.

After the powerful display in the regional tournament, the Harvard fencers have high hopes for the pending NCAA decisions. The strong finish for the Crimson has generated much enthusiasm on the part of the entire team, as they all await a good showing in the national tournament.