The fencing season has come to a close and Max Wieder is now the all-time leader in Sabre wins in Hopkins history. The Jays sent seven athletes to the Mid-Atlantic/South NCAA Regional tournament. Wieder had the top finish at 13th in the Sabre. For the Epee, senior Nick Krywopusk placed 14th.
The women’s fencing team sent nine Jays to the regional tournament — six of which placed in the top 25. Freshman Katherine Simeon led the way with a 15th-place finish in the Sabre. Freshman Jackie Heath finished 18th in the Foil and sophomore Komal Kumar led the Jays in the Epee — finishing 23rd.
Before travelling to Madison, N.J., Heath was named first team All-NIWFA. Junior Marion Trumbull was also named to the first team and Simeon was named second team All-NIWFA.
These honors came after the Jays finished second at the 2011 National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association Championships.
Lauren Chinn — a junior — was named to the NIWFA All-Academic team.
The men’s regional tournament was also held in Madison. Wieder finished an even 8-8; his day ended with a loss in the third round of a fence-off — one bout win away from the final round. However, the eight wins gave Wieder 322 career wins which puts him above Hopkins Hall of Fame fencer Paul Cordts. Cordts set the Sabre win record (320) 31 years ago.
Wieder went 63-47 this season to finish 322-163 — an impressive .664 winning percentage. Only two fencers have more wins than Wieder between the three weapons.
Fellow senior Mike Fellows also ended his fencing career at Hopkins at the regional with a 26th place Sabre finish. Fellows tallied 142 career wins.
Krywopusk went 9-6 on the day and finished 14th in the Epee. The senior went 48-41 this season to wrap up his career with 242 wins and 150 losses. Krywopusk is third in school history in Epee wins.
Simeon had the highest finish for the women with an 8-9 record on the day. Simeon won 94 bouts this season while losing only 45.
Also at the Sabre, Mary Vitale wrapped up her career with 244 wins. Her senior season record was an impressive 82-54. According to www.hopkinssports.com Vitale has finished in the top 20 at the NCAA regional tournament in all four of her collegiate seasons.
In the Foil, Heath finished 18th — but went 6-9. And at the Epee Kumar went 5-5 in her 23rd place finish. She finished her season with a 60-41 record. Her career record so far stands at 129-78.
Junior Lauren Chinn finished in 32nd place, going 2-3. She finishes her season 89-26 with a career record of 217-73.
Chinn will be a big name to look for next year, with the potential to break 300 wins. Be mindful though, this one’s dangerous with a blade. She was held back by some minor injuries as the season came to a conclusion, limiting her success at regionals. Hopefully next year she and her teammates will be able to go further in the NCAA tournament.
This season was one of the stronger finishes for Hopkins’s fencing teams as a whole. Next year could see several top-15 finishes if all of the fencers can stay healthy, keep improving and are ready to follow up this years finish.
“The team put in a lot of work this season. It was great to see the younger fencers perform during the season and step up when they got the chance,” said Chinn.
“Everyone earned what they got this season, and I hope that everyone can take the momentum from this season and bring it with them next year.”
For those that are lucky enough to be here, be sure to watch and see what the men’s and women’s fencing teams do next year.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are graduating some accomplished fencers, but still retain many talented young athletes for the coming seasons.
