Fencing team shines at Philadelphia Invite

The Hopkins men’s and women’s fencing teams traveled to the “City of Brotherly Love” to compete in the Philadelphia Invite. The event featured some of the top competitors across the country.

The men faced off against Drew, Lafayette, Haverford, Penn and Sacred Heart. Their first match came against Drew. Sophomore Nathaniel Green shined for the Jays as he earned a huge win in the Epee with a score of 3-0. The Jays took the match while only losing two bouts. The final score was 25-2.

Junior Glenn Balbus and freshman Jared LeBron combined for six wins to sweep the Foil without dropping a bout against Lafayette. The team followed suit and breezed past Lafayette with a final score of 20-7, earning them their second straight win.

After two strong wins, the team fell to host Penn by a score of 18-9. The Quakers won in all three weapons even though the Foil was only by a close score of 5-4. Green and freshman Denis Routkevitch proved to be dominant by combining to earn two wins in the Epee.

The closest match of the day for the Blue Jays came against a tough Sacred Heart team. The final score of 14-13 was hard to swallow for the team.

Sitting with two wins and two losses, the Blue Jays rebounded in a strong way to end the day with a big win over Haverford. Freshman Ian Maddox led the way for Hopkins winning all three of his bouts in the Foil. The Blue Jays swept all three weapons in the 19-8 win.

The men will be back in action on Feb. 7 at the Duke Invitational.

Although the women’s team finished the day with a record of 1-4, they were still able to battle with their foes and provide a sound stage for improvement.

The Lady Jays started off on the right foot by snagging a 21-6 victory over Haverford by sweeping all three weapons. Senior Ilana Regenbogen and junior Rachel Viqueira combined to tally six wins in the Foil. They took the Foil by a score of 8-1. Sophomores Charlotte Green and Katherine Couch worked together to earn the same exact result in the Epee.

Hopkins dropped their next match to Scared Heart by a close score of 16-11. They were unable to come up with a win in any of the three weapons. Regenbogen and Viqueira again played well, but fell just short in the Foil. The results in the Epee and Sabre were similar with the Lady Jays earning wins in all three weapons, but not enough to top the Pioneers. The final three matchups came against Fairleigh Dickinson, Northwestern and 10th-ranked Temple. The team could not muster enough wins to take any of the three matches. With that said, Hopkins did earn wins in the Epee against both the Knights and the Wildcats. The Temple Owls swept them in all three weapons.

Senior Gianna Puzzo led the way for the Lady Jays with 10 wins on the day, improving her career record to 180-110. The women’s team will be back in action Feb. 8 in Teaneck, N.J. at the FDU Invitational.