In the weeks following the start of the New Year, Hopkins fencing has been doing anything but relaxing. This past January, both women’s and men’s fencing have made good showings in their respective meets.
The Philadelphia Invitational, a two-day event that spanned Jan. 22-23, played host to both men’s and women’s fencing. The women’s team had mixed results, defeating NJIT (20-7) and Drew (26-1), and falling to Duke (25-2), Cornell (18-9), #7 Northwestern (24-3) and #9 Temple (20-7).
The first match of the day was against Cornell (7-4). The latter achieved victory in the Sabre, with Beverly Yang beating freshman Katherine Simeon 5-3. Simeone had two wins in the round, and senior Mary Vitale and freshman Kathleen Rand had one win each.
Cornell won all nine bouts in the Foil, sweeping the weapon. Hopkins wrapped up the match with a 5-4 victory in the Epee as junior Lauren Chinn defeated Jennifer Lee; Chinn was 3-0 in said round. Sophomore Kumal Kumar and freshman Liz Caris each won one bout in the Epee.
The Jays easily defeated NJIT in a 20-7 victory, and then faced seventh-ranked Northwestern. The Jays were unable to achieve victory, despite a 9-0 win in the Epee, with Chinn and Kumar each going 3-0, respectively.
The Blue Jays then faced Duke. In the Sabre, Rand won one point in a 8-1 defeat. In the Foil, the Blue Devils swept all nine bouts. Closing out the match, Chinn captured a win in an 8-1 defeat. To close out the day, Hopkins fell to ninth-ranked Temple as the Owls managed a tight win in the Sabre as Andrea Hailey beat junior Jenny Lenz. The Owls proceeded to defeat the Jays in the penultimate and final stages of the match.
Turning to the men’s performance in Philadelphia, Hopkins defeated NJIT (22-5) and Drew (15-12), and fell to Haverford (18-9), North Carolina (19-8) and Sacred Heart (18-9). A success story was sophomore Nicolas Barbera, who achieved 12 wins in 15 bouts.
The day started with a close 15-12 win over Drew. The Jays won the Sabre (8-1) and the Epee (6-3), losing the Foil but maintaining enough for a victory.
Next, the team faced NJIT and went 7-2 in the Sabre and Foil and 8-1 in the Epee. Barbera went 3-0 and senior Mike Fellows went 2-0 in the Sabre. Sophomore Ben Wasser and freshman Evan Stafford both went 3-0 in the Foil.
Turning next to the Tar Heels, North Carolina achieved a close victory over the Jays. Barbera and Menon each won one match in the Sabre, but nevertheless fell 7-2. The Foil saw similar results, with the team achieving a record of 7-2.
Facing Haverford, Hopkins dropped in the Sabre (6-3) and Foil (8-1), but came back to clinch a win in the Epee (5-4).
In the final match of the day, Hopkins lost a heartbreaker to Sacred Heart. The Jays won in the Sabre, but the Pioneers rallied to win the Epee and Foil with 8-1 scores.
More recently, the men’s team competed in the Penn State Invitational this past Saturday. In a valiant competition, #9 Duke felled Hopkins 22-5 (F7-E8-S7).
The team now looks forward to Sunday, Feb. 6th, when Hopkins will host the JHU Invitational.
