PRINCETON, N.J. – 10 Ivy League men’s and women’s fencing squads are ranked in the first USFCA Early Season Coaches’ Poll as teams post impressive results during the first half of the season.
In the women’s coaches’ poll, three Ivies - No. 2 Columbia, No. 3 Princeton and No. 4 Harvard - sit inside the top-five, while No. 9 Cornell and No. 10 Penn round out the poll. On the men’s side, two Ivies – No. 2 Columbia and No. 4 Princeton – are ranked in the top-five followed by No. 6 Harvard, No. 7 Penn and T-No. 10 Yale.
The
2022 Ivy League Fencing Round-Robins will take place on February 12-13 at the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center on the campus of Brown University. Action will pick back up January 15-16 as several teams will head to the Penn State Invitational to take on an impressive field of nationally ranked teams.
BROWN
After two events, Brown is 11-1 overall after going undefeated the Northeast Fencing Conference Meet No. 1 and 4-1 at the Brandeis Invitation. At the NFC meet, Brown's foil and sabre both went undefeated at 7-0, with Brown's epee posting a 6-1 record. Brown then picked up four wins at the Brandeis Invitational, earning wins over Wellesley, Incarnated Word, Brandeis, and Boston College. Freshman Rebecca Whang posted the most wins at the Brandeis day going 13-1 in the sabre. Casey Chan earned 11 wins in sabre.
COLUMBIA
At the Max Garrett Open, Columbia came away with five medals as sophomore
Mina Yamanaka claimed the women's epee individual title with a 15-12 win over Penn State's Jaclyn Khrol in the final bout. The sophomore finished the competition with a 13-2 overall record.
Delphine DeVore and
Daniella Timofeyev earned second place finishes in foil and sabre, respectively. At the Western Invitational, the Lions went 8-0 outscoring its opponents 333-74 on the weekend.
On the men’s side, the Lions took four medals t the Max Garrett Open led by junior foilist Joon Paik. The Lions then closed out 2021 with a 10-0 recording, going 7-0 at the Western Invitational before posting a perfect 3-0 mark at the Columbia Invitational.
CORNELL
Cornell concluded the 2021 portion of its schedule with a perfect marks at the Vassar Invitational and the Brandeis Invitational. At the Brandeis Invitation, Cornell posted a 26-1 decision over Wellesley before handing host Brandeis a 20-7 defeat. The Big Red faced Ivy League foe Brown in what turned out to be a very exciting battle where the Bears took sabre and foil, but Cornell was perfect 9-0 in epee to escape with a 17-10 victory.
HARVARD
After earning its 14
th consecutive Beanpot title, Harvard went undefeated the Sacred Heart Invitational to wrap up the 2021 portion of the season. Despite starting each matching trailing 3-0 due to injury within the sabre squad, the Crimson posted an 8-0 mark at the Sacred Heart Invitational. Elizabeth Tartakovsky, Lauren Scruggs and Cynthia Liu helped the Crimson defeated Penn State, 14-12.
The men’s fencing squad earned its 13
th straight Beanpot title to kick off the 2021-22 season. The Crimson followed up its strong season opening performances with a 4-1 record at the Sacred Heart Invitational where Harvard defeated Vassar, Sacred Heart, NJIT and NYU before falling to Penn State.
PENN
Penn opened the 2021-22 season with multiple top finishes at the Temple Open. Led by freshman
Katina Proestakis Ortiz in foil and
Vivian Lu in sabre, the Quakers boasted six top-five finishes. At the Ohio State Elite Invitational, the Quakers knocked off Air Force, UC San Diego and Wayne State as the foil and epee teams each went 22-5 over the first three bouts before falling to Notre Dame and Ohio State.
At the Temple Invitational, Penn men’s fencing came away with three top-seven finishes in epee, the top-two finishers in foil and four of the top-20 spots in sabre. Sophomore Byce Louis claimed first in the foil. At the Ohio State Invitational, the Quakers picked up two wins over Air Force and Wayne State to close out the 2021 portion of the schedule.
PRINCETON
Princeton opened the 2021-22 season with a perfect mark of 7-0 at the Drew Invitationals, defeating Drew, Wagner, Yeshiva, NJIT, FDU, Wellesley and Stevens. The Tigers allowed just 21 points across the seven bouts. Princeton continued its momentum, sweeping its five bouts at the Sacred Heart Duals, taking down NYU, Penn State, Sacred Heart, Vassar and NJIT.
Princeton began the 2021-22 season with a 7-0 mark at the Drew Invitational, allowing just 12 points across its seven bouts. The Tigers went on to compete at the Sacred Heart Invitational, where the men’s squad earned a pair of wins over Sacred Heart and Vassar.
YALE
Yale opened the season with several strong performances as three top-10 finishers highlighted the Bulldogs’ appearance at the Garret Penn State Open led by Erica Hooshi and Emma Shou in foil. Yale continued its dominating performances as the Bulldogs swept its competition at the Brandeis Invitational, winning all six bouts against Brandeis, Boston College, MIT, St. John’s, Incarnate Word and Wellesley.
At the Garret Penn State Open, Yale earned three top-12 finishes in saber led by Charlson Kim who placed seventh. At the Brandeis Invitational, the Bulldogs went 3-5 with wins over Brandeis, MIT and Incarnate Word.