Fencing battles at U.S. Weapon Championships

This past Sunday, Feb.
24th, the Hopkins men's
and women's fencing
teams headed to New York
City to compete in one of
the season's toughest competitions:
the U.S. Weapon
Squad Championship.
Going into the tournament,
the Blue Jay fencers
knew that they would
have to bring their A-game
if they hoped to defeat any
of the highly ranked teams
they were expected to face.
Being a Division III school,
Hopkins would be presented
with a steep challenge,
as they matched up against
many Division I schools,
including several ranked in
the top 10 of the U.S. Fencing
Coaches Association Poll.
Hopkins got off to a
great start, advancing all
six of their teams (foil, sabre
and epee for both men's
and women's) to the top 16.
In the first round -
the top 32 -
the men's
foil squad beat Yeshiva
to move on and face nationally
third-ranked St.
John's University. Unfortunately,
the Blue Jays
were beaten in a valiant
fight and were knocked
out of the competition.
Coincidentally, the women's
foil also faced St. John's
in the top 16 round and
lost as well. The Red Storm
women, who are currently
ranked fifth in the nation,
boast several world-class
fencers including two Russian
Olympians and a Mexican
national team member.
Liz Caris, who is a sophomore
epeeist on the Blue
Jays fencing team, commented
that despite the
loss, the Blue Jays were all
proud of their fellow teammates
who, "Put up a great
fight and fenced very well."
Both the men's and women's
epee squads faced the
University of Pennsylvania
in the top 16 round but
were defeated. In an incredibly
close bout, the women's
team narrowly lost by just
one point in overtime.
For the sabres, freshman
Sarah Hewes made her debut
as a starter after former
starter and sophomore
Kathleen Rand sustained
an injury which prevented
her from competing.
Hewes fenced one of her
best matches of the season
against the Quakers.
The men's sabre team
lost in the top 16 round
to University of North
Carolina, who is currently
ranked 12th in the country.
While fencing has been a
part of the Hopkins athletics
program since the 1930s,
few people outside of the
fencing community seem to
know much about the sport.
I caught up with the
aforementioned Caris to ask
her a little bit about how and
why fencing has become
such a big part of her life.
The News-Letter (N-L):
How many years have you
been fencing? What got
you interested in the sport?
Liz Caris (LC): I fenced
all through high school,
and we had a good varsity
team. I started fencing the
summer before. On a whim,
I took a summer class to experiment
with something
new and fell in love with it.
I started out, like most, fencing
foil but then switched to
epee soon after.
I must admit that I liked
epee because it did not have
as many rules as the other
two, and I could hit anywhere
on the body (from
head to hand to toe) rather
than just the torso in foil or
the upper body in sabre.
It is such a unique sport
with such a rich, fascinating
history. I mean, it's
modern dueling, how can
you beat that?
N-L: What is your favorite
thing about the sport?
LC: One of my favorite
things about fencing is the
duality of its individual nature
and team unity. At individual
events, it's sometimes
nice to rely only on
yourself, but team events
are just more fun and bring
us all closer together. Team
dual meets are very exciting,
and each squad watches
the other team squads,
cheering them on. When
all of the bout scores matter
for a team win, there's
a lot more riding on it, and
it's a lot more exhilarating.
N-L: Do you have any
personal goals for this season?
What about looking
ahead to regionals?
LC: I've been having increasingly
bad problems
with my knees, so I'm actually
in the middle of
changing my fencing style,
so I can continue to fence
competitively and not destroy
my joints. With only
regionals left, I really just
want to fence competitively
and prove to be a threat
among the top-ranked
fencers in our region, an
aspiration most of us aspire
to. Reaching NCAA's
is tough, and it would be
absolutely wonderful if
any of us make it there, so I
know I'll just be taking the
meet one bout at a time.
I personally feel like I've
improved significantly this
season from last season and
even from the beginning
of the season. My goal is
to remain consistent while
improving my style and
garnering good results.
N-L: Do you and your
teammates have any collective
goals?
LC: We've been plagued
with injuries this year, so
it's important for everyone
to get healthy again. Of
course, we would love to
have anyone advance from
Regionals to NCAA's next
weekend and will fence
our hardest to do so. It's a
rough tournament and a
long day, but I know we'll
bring the heat. Women's
fencing won the EWFC
(Eastern Womens Fencing
Conference) for our third
year in a row, which was
definitely one of our team
goals. We also won best foil
and sabre team at EWFC
individuals; winning all
three teams would be ideal
next year.
Hopefully, next season
we have a healthier team
and remain consistent and
on the rise -
I know we're
capable of it!