W. Fencing wins second consecutive EWFC championship

On the heels of two impressive weekends that included mighty victories over Maryland and Virginia Tech at the JHU Invitational and then Tufts and Fairleigh Dickinson amongst others in Hoboken, N.J. a week ago, the Hopkins women’s fencing team returned to Hoboken this weekend.

The Jays won six straight duels to claim their second consecutive Eastern Women’s Fencing Conference championship.

The tournament, which was hosted by Stevens Tech, began on Saturday for the Lady Jays against Yeshiva. Hopkins got off on the right foot early, crushing Yeshiva 23-4.

The Jays got several shut-outs in the bout, led by senior co-captain Mary Vitale in the Sabre, junior Colleen Stone in the Foil, and sophomore Komal Kumar in the Epee.

Hopkins’s next match was against the Fords of Haverford, a team that handed the Jays a 15-12 loss just two weeks ago in Baltimore. This time, though, it was Hopkins who prevailed, winning a tight battle 17-10 and sweeping all three events.

Freshman Kathleen Simeon paced the Jays in the Sabre, helping clinch a 5-4 victory. In the Foil, the Jays again squeaked by 5-4, this time with assistance from freshman Jackie Heath’s 3-0 decision. In the Epee, junior co-captain Lauren Chinn won her bout 3-0 to give the Jays a more relaed 7-2 win.

Next up was Drew University, a simple task for Hopkins who dominated for a 25-2 win via convincing duels by freshman Kathleen Rand, junior Jenny Lenz, sophomore Diane Duros and junior Jen Hession.

The Jays’ fourth match was against host and eventual second-place finisher Stevens Tech. Despite falling in the Epee 6-3, Hopkins gave themselves enough room with big wins in the Foil and Sabre thanks to junior Marion Trumbull and Heath in the Foil.

The fifth match of the afternoon did not slow the Jays’ flight as they coasted to an easy 23-4 win over CCNY.

In their EWFC finale, Hopkins survived an early scare against Hunter who got out to a lead with a win in the Sabre. Strong matches in the Foil and Epee, however, allowed the Lady Jays to escape with a 19-8 win and another conference title. Freshman Liz Caris had a clutch 2-0 win in the Epee.

The team reached a few milestones on the day, as Chinn won her 200th bout and Kumar and Stone each won their 100th match.

With a team title under their belt, the Jays head back to N.J. next weekend for the EWFC individual championhips. The same weekend, Hopkins will also compete in the U.S. Squad Weapon Championships in N.Y.