While defending champion Ohio State faced disappointment as it turned over the national title to Notre Dame this year in a two-point loss, the Harvard fencing team was all smiles. The team made program history, capturing a record-breaking sixth-place performance, and freshman Emily Cross delivered a stunning first-place finish in the women’s foil.

The 2005 NCAA Fencing Championships, hosted by Rice University in Houston, consisted of a four-day meet with a round robin style tournament including both men and women’s events. Harvard brought a total of ten fencers—five men and five women—to nationals.

By ending the tournament in sixth, the Crimson outdid the school’s previous best combined finish of eighth place at the national tournament. After the first two days of competition, Harvard stood in fifth place and held on down the stretch, dropping only one place to wind up in sixth. Of the team’s final output of 134 points, 55 points came from the saber competitions, 37 points in the foil and 42 points in the epée.

Despite being a newcomer to the NCAA championships, Cross performed beyond her years and walked away with the 2005 national foil title. Cross secured her victory by shutting out Alicja Kryczalo, a three-time foil national champion from eventual winning team Notre Dame, in the final bout.

“I’ve never been to NCAA’s before, which is a different format than other competitions,” Cross said.

By her own admission, Cross went into the meet not necessarily expecting to win, but instead to “get a feel for how NCAA’s work.”

Cross ultimately left the meet with more than just experience and a feel for the competition, but the Crimson’s first individual title under coach Peter Brand.

As the program continues to climb the ranks on the national scene, so too does its reputation.

“I think me winning shows that Harvard is more of a powerhouse than people think it is,” Cross said.

Cross leaves Friday for the 20-and-under Junior World Championship meet in Austria.

In the men’s competition, after finishing third in the first four rounds of the saber competition on day one, junior Timothy Hagamen held on to third place in the finals, finishing only behind fencers from Notre Dame and St. John’s.

“I am pretty happy with my results,” Hagamen said. “I wanted to make the top four and win as many bouts as possible so that I could contribute to the team.”

In addition to a great individual performance, Hagamen was impressed with the performance of the team and the progress of the Crimson program.

“I think that the team result was also good, but we can do even better next year, especially if we qualify more people,” he said.

Bringing such a large contingent to the tournament not only proved that Harvard is among the nation’s best, but it benefited the fencers’ performances as well.