Youth Shines for Fencing

Try this on for size: second place in the Ivies, a win against Princeton for the first time since 1986 and a team-best eighth-place finish in the nation.

As far as freshman Enoch Woodhouse is concerned, the Harvard men’s fencing team won’t be roosting on its modest 2004 gains anytime soon.

“We are really looking forward to next season,” Woodhouse said, only two months after leading Harvard to its best combined finish in school history after placing fifth in foil at the NCAAs. “We have a real chance to win the Ivy League.”

Woodhouse, a 2003 graduate of the Roxbury Latin School in Boston, embodies what appears to be Harvard fencing’s most promising youth movement in years. The Crimson had six players, three male and three female, selected first- or second-team All-Ivy this year. Of the six, two—first-team Woodhouse (7-2) for the men and second-team Jasmine McGlade (9-6) for the women—were freshmen, and the rest—first-team Julian Rose (8-4) and second-team David Jakus (9-3) for the men and first-team Chloe Stinetorf (12-3) and second-team Anne Austin (10-4) for the women—were sophomores.

Add in Tim Hagaman—a 2002-2003 freshman who took a year off to train with the U.S. fencing team—and some promising recruits, and a run towards the top may be in order next year.

“We will see,” Woodhouse said.

In the meantime, the men’s and women’s fencing teams can congratulate themselves on a very successful 2003-2004 season.

MEN’S FENCING

The men’s fencing team opened the season on an inauspicious note against eventual Ivy League champion Columbia.

On Dec. 6, Harvard fell to the Lions, 19-8, foreshadowing a strong showing by Columbia in Ivy League play. The Lions reeled off five straight wins against Ivy opponents before losing to Penn on Feb. 22.

After wins against Boston College and North Carolina and a strong showing at the Brandeis University Invitational, the Crimson continued to falter in Ivy play. Harvard lost to Penn, 16-11, on Feb. 7, running their record to 0-2 against conference opponents.

From then on, the Crimson was perfect in Ivy play.

Led by Woodhouse in foil and Rose in epee, the Harvard men swept into the postseason with wins over Princeton, Yale and Duke in late February. The victory against Princeton, a 15-12 decision, was Harvard’s first win against the Tigers since 1986—when Woodhouse was one year old.

Next came the IFA Championships, and Harvard’s strongest performance in an invitational in 2004. The Crimson’s three-weapon team finished third overall, with 53 victories in 80 bouts. Harvard scored 368 touches against 274 touches received, a rating of +94, and Jakus and Rose earned silver medals in saber and epee. Freshman Daniel Sachs made bronze with a victory over Brandeis’ Jeremy Simpson.

The Harvard men and women combined for an eighth-place finish at the 2004 NCAA Fencing Championships at Brandeis on March 27-28—tied with 2003 for the best finish in school history. Woodhouse won 16 bouts over the two-day tournament, finishing fifth in foil.

WOMEN’S FENCING

The women’s fencing team was equally impressive, shaking off two Ivy losses and riding an early-season hot streak to a 10-5 head-to-head record.

The Crimson was led by Stinetorf and Austin, who combined to win 22 of 29 bouts in foil during the regular season. The team started the regular schedule strong, defeating Cornell and Sacred Heart in Ithaca on Nov. 23.

“We had a very strong start,” head coach Peter Brand said at the time. “The upperclassmen did very well and some of the underclassmen were a little nervous.”

“With more experience and hard work,” he added, “these beginners will definitely improve.”

One beginner, freshman Jasmine McGlade, joined the ranks of the Ivy League’s best with a strong rookie season. Her 9-6 record in epee earned her a second-team All-Ivy selection.

After a Dec. 6 loss to Columbia, the Crimson won five in a row before losing an 18-9 decision to Penn State on Feb. 1. In the IFA Championships, Harvard finished fourth in women’s three-weapon team, with Austin winning silver in the foil.

The Crimson was led by Stinetorf (11th place in foil), Austin (21st in epee), McGlade (13th in epee) and senior Eunice Yi (23rd in saber) at the NCAA Championships at Brandeis. Harvard’s underclassmen will try next year to improve on their school-best eighth-place performance at the NCAAs next year.

—Staff writer Alex McPhillips can be reached at rmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.