SEASON RECAP: Fencing

The men and women’s fencing teams made history this season, winning championship titles, defeating long-time rivals, and turning in record performances at the NCAA tournament.

The women’s team began dominating early in the season with a tight victory over long-time rival Columbia last November. The Crimson women continued their superiority in February as they swept the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet, ultimately securing the Ivy League title for the first time in Harvard history.

The Crimson received many All-Ivy honors based on the performances at the Ivy League Championships—the five first teamers were sophomore Jasmine McGlade in the epée, junior Chloe Stinetorf and freshman Emily Cross in the foil, and freshmen Carolyn Wright and Alexa Weingarden in the saber competition. Second team All-Ivy honors went to sophomore Anne Austin in the foil and freshman Samantha Parker in the saber events.

“I think that winning the Ivy League has been a goal for us for many years, and accomplishing that was just amazing,” co-captain Stinetorf said. “One of the strongest things we have going for us is our ability to function as a team, which means being friends and [supporting] each other.”

At the men’s Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet, the Crimson was able to mirror the success of the women, taking home the Ivy title—though it was shared with Columbia—for the first time since 1977.

The men received equally impressive honors, walking away with three first team All-Ivy awards: sophomore Enoch Woodhouse in the foil and juniors Tim Hagamen and David Jakus in the saber. Second-team honors went to freshman Benjamin Ungar and junior Julian Rose in the epée, as well as to sophomore Dan Sachs in the saber event.

“We were emotionally crushed after our loss to Columbia earlier this year,” said Harvard coach Peter Brand after the tournament. “But our captains helped bring everyone together to fight through Princeton and then Yale.”

At the ECAC-IFA competition, both teams walked away victorious again, carrying six trophies and taking the championship title. The dual victory at the IFA meet made history yet again, as the first time in the Crimson’s history that both squads won.

And yet with all of the success, the team showed no signs of slowing down, capping off its season by turning in a record-high finish at the 2005 NCAA tournament. Harvard’s combined men and women’s sixth-place finish—two spots higher than 2004’s eighth-place effort—proved to be the highest mark achieved by any Crimson team yet.

“I think that the team result was good, but we can do even better next year, especially if we qualify more people,” Hagamen said. “We are a strong fencing school now.”

With the progress the program is currently making and the addition of some key recruits, the future is bright for Harvard’s fencing teams.

“This year we’ve just had a great bunch of people who came together and everything worked really well,” Brand said. “It was a great combination coming together at the right time, and I think we are going to continue with that.”

—Staff writer Samantha A. Papadakis can be reached at spapadak@fas.harvard.edu.