Women
The Crimson women had a perfect weekend, winning all five of their matches easily. While the opposition wasn’t overwhelming, the competition was important for Ivy League championship points.
“It’s definitely a good sense for regionals and qualifying for nationals,” co-captain foil Amy Bei said. “It was good to get some practice in and see how we do against other Ivies.”
The action started on Saturday against Cornell, whom Harvard beat, 18-9. The Crimson kept rolling on Sunday, defeating Duke 17-10, Penn 15-12, NYU 18-9 and UNC 24-3.
“The women were very impressive, especially against UPenn,” Brand said. “I thought it would be a much tougher contest, but we pretty much dominated. Our weakest squad was the epee, and they came out strong and gave us two bouts against a very good UPenn squad.”
The weekend showcased the strength of the foil squad, which has been led this year by two freshmen, Anne Austin and Chloe Stinetorf. Austin went undefeated yesterday, racking up 12 wins, while Stinetorf posted an impressive 11-1 record.
“The freshmen have really opened the doors to so much potential,” junior saber Eunice Yi said. “They’re unstoppable.”
Yi turned in a strong performance with a 10-2 record, including two 5-0 bouts.
“We don’t have backups, so everyone has to be on top of their game all the time,” Yi said. “The team is definitely smaller this year, but the morale is great.”
In particular, the epee squad has been shorthanded since the graduation of Naz Firoz at the end of the fall semester. Sophomore Mary Widmeyer was switched from foil to epee at the beginning of the year to prepare for the loss. She joins juniors Rebecca Cantu, a walk-on as a freshman, and Sara Park.
The epee fencers ignored their less-than-ideal circumstances and cleaned up with 8-1 wins over NYU and UNC.
“They’ve stepped it up a notch,” Yi said. “They’re definitely being challenged, but they’re doing phenomenally well considering the circumstances.”
“At the NYU meet, the saber squad faltered a little,” Bei added. “But the epee squad came through and picked up the slack.”
Both teams continue their pursuit for the Northeast Fencing Conference title when they compete at Tufts next weekend. The Crimson will face MIT, Tufts, BC and Wellesley in what should be a more hotly contested competition.
“[This weekend] was a good warmup for upcoming matches,” Yi said.
—Staff writer Brenda E. Lee can be reached at belee@fas.harvard.edu.