Second Home Opponent Barely Challenges Squads

Stellar performances outshined Harvard’s few blips on Saturday morning at the Malkin Athletic Center, as the Crimson’s second opponent at home hardly presented the challenge that Tufts did last week.

Both the men and women fencing squads defeated Sacred Heart by impressive margins, the men by a score of 22-5 and the women by a dominant 23-4.

The Crimson’s only stumbling blocks came in men and women’s saber. The women eked out a victory after junior Alexa Weingarden won her final bout 5-4, winning the weapon by an identical score.

Unlike in many sports, advanced fencers don’t always dominate against lesser opponents. The trouble lies in the fact that lower level fencers do not react in the same way as one might expect, and so it is up to the better fencer to make the adjustments.

It took almost the entire meet for the Crimson to make that adjustment in women’s saber.

“We had a hard day,” junior co-captain Samantha Parker said. “In the end we came through. We were able to slow down, take our time, finish our action and make it our game.”

With junior Carolyn Wright leaving for a semester abroad in Egypt this January, things will not get any easier on the squad.

“It’s going to be a tremendous loss, because she’s our best saber fencer,” Crimson coach Peter Brand said, adding that with the departure of defending NCAA champion Emily Cross to train for the 2008 Olympics, “we’re not going to have the same depth we had last year for sure.”

The men’s saber needed to wash off a bit of rust, as things started off poorly.

The squad lost three bouts in a row after senior Daniel Sachs continued his recent hot streak with a victory, but pulled out a 6-3 win.

After a tough 5-4 loss on Thursday, the men’s foil rebounded with an impressive 8-1 victory behind co-captain Sam Cross. The squad was riddled with injuries this past week and had to do without sophomore Kai Itameri-Kinter until Saturday, missing from Harvard action due to a national competition.

The women’s foil continued to impress despite its young makeup. Freshmen Artemisha Goldfeder, Anna Podolsky, and Arielle Pensler put on a 9-0 performance, topping their 8-1 display on Thursday night and further validating their place in the college ranks.

“They are extremely impressive compared with the first meet and they are progressively getting stronger,” Brand said. “They realize what they need to do.”

The women and men both impressed in epee, finishing off the Pioneers 9-0 and 8-1, respectively.

The lone setback for the men came in a 5-4 second bout, while the women never came any closer than 5-3 to losing.

“I was really proud of epee,” co-captain Caitlan McLoon said. “They did a great job. They can be off or on, and today they were definitely on.”

The squad now faces a tough road ahead. With nearly two months of down time, it will be up to every individual fencer to keep up his or her training until the toughest part of the season, Ivy League play.

With perennial powerhouse Columbia looming to take back the title, the squad will have to perform beyond its ability to meet the challenge.

“We work very hard when they come back,” Brand said. “They are going to get a dose of what I call reality, but they’re prepared for it. They know that when they come back they are going to be working extra hard to get ready for the long stretch in February when we have our toughest competition coming up.”

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.