Women's fencing wins EWFC Championship

Last Sunday the Blue Jays took home the Eastern Women’s Fencing Conference (EWFC) Championship trophy for the sixth time in program history. After finishing as the runner-up the past two years, Hopkins reclaimed the Championship title.

“I am so incredibly excited about our win,” sophomore Celine Shanosky said. “We were disappointed when we came in second last season, and it feels so great to get our Championship back. I am also so proud of our captains, Katherine Couch and Nastasia Winey — seeing them win the championship their senior year made us all really happy.”

The Jays came into the team competition with a strong start, recording a 26-1 victory over the Yeshiva University Maccabees. Sophomore Rebecca Rosenthal and freshman Katherine Xiang tallied eight points for the Foil squad. Meanwhile, Shanosky, senior Katherine Couch and junior Mailys Vignoud contributed nine points for the Epee squad, and sophomore Shiaomeng Tse and freshmen Alicja Tomaszewski and Erin Chen earned nine points for the Sabre squad.

Hopkins earned their second victory of the day against the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks, the two-time defending champions. With wins in both the Epee and Sabre events, the Jays earned 16 points to the Ducks’ 11. Shanosky, Couch and Vignoud each won two bouts for the Epee squad, and Chen recorded a 3-0 round for the Sabre squad.

“Going into the tournament, we were focused on defeating Stevens Institute of Technology,” Shanosky said. “They are our main rival and have beat us out for first place the last few years. We were also concentrated on keeping up the enthusiasm throughout the day. The Championship is nearly a 12-hour tournament, and you have to be in it for the long run.”

The Jays continued to run with their momentum by defeating the Hunter College Hawks 26-1. Followed by equally as dominant wins: a 20-7 victory over the Drew University Rangers, a 23-4 win over the City College of New York Beavers and a 23-4 win over the Haverford Fords.

Hopkins finished the day with one final team victory against the Vassar College Brewers. The Jays won 6-3 in the Epee event and 7-2 in the Sabre event. Shanosky, Vignoud and senior Nastasia Winey each won two bouts for the Epee squad, and Tse led the Sabre squad with a 3-0 record to earn the team the Championship trophy.

“Fencing is traditionally an individual sport, and it is easy to let your personal losses get you down,” Shanosky said. “But at this tournament, we all kept the team in mind, cheered each other on and stayed positive. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a supportive group of women.”

After the team competition, the top 16 fencers from each weapon throughout the day advanced to compete individually.

In the Foil event, Xiang went 1-1, finishing in fifth place and earning First Team All-EWFC honors. Rosenthal, also competing in the Foil, finished in 10th place.

After finishing in second place in the Epee event, Shanosky also earned First Team All-EWFC honors. She finished the individual competition with a 3-1 record. Couch accompanied her teammates and grabbed another First Team All-EWFC honors, going 1-1 to finish in fifth place.

Chen, entering her first EWFC Championship, became the first Sabre champion in the program since 2014’s victor Isabella So. Meanwhile Tomaszewski and Tse placed third and seventh, respectively, in the Sabre event.

Collecting six Championship trophies, the Jays are tied for the winning the most EWFC Championships in Conference history. The team surpassed the Hopkins school record of single-season wins (19) from the 1999-2000 season, already tallying 23.

“We just became the winningest team in program history, so I have to say I am unbelievably proud of how our team performed,” Shanosky said. “Two of our weapon squads won Top Squad of the Year, and six of our team members placed individually. We could not have won this championship without our collective resolve or enthusiasm.”

At the competition the Jays earned EWFC Coaching Staff of the Year honors and Top Epee and Sabre Squad honors. Couch improved her number of career wins to 278 by the end of the day.

The Jays continue to prepare for the last of the season’s upcoming championships.

“To prepare for the upcoming competition, our team is breaking off into weapon squads to discuss our performance and focus on what we need to improve. So much of fencing is a mental game, and keeping up our enthusiasm and determination is something that we are concentrating on as we end the season,” Shanosky said.

The Jays next travel to West Point, N.Y. to compete in the National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association Championships on Saturday, March 4.