Women's fencing wins EWFC title

Hopkins' women's
fencing team took its
third straight Eastern
Women's Fencing Conference
(EWFC)
C h a m p i o n -
ship this past
weekend in
M a d i s o n ,
New Jersey.
The EWFC is
currently in
its 12th year.
The league
was established
in the
2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 1
season and
has been a
round-robin
style single
day Dual
Meet Championship
format.
The league
consists of
seven schools
that eventually
compete for the championship
title: Hopkins,
Drew University, Hunter
College, Haverford College,
Yeshiva University,
City College of New York
and Stevens Institute of
Technology. The Lady
Jays have dominated this
event for the past three
years and have moved
into second place on the
all-time EWFC Championship
list, following the
six-time champions, Drew
University.
Hopkins won this year's
prestigious event with a
dominant 6-0 record. The
black and blue posted decisive
victories against each
opponent, taking down
CCNY, 25-2; Haverford,
18-9; Yeshiva, 24-3; Hunter,
23-4; Stevens Tech, 14-13;
and Drew, 25-2. Stevens
Tech was the runner-up
for the event, but the Blue
Jays were too much for the
Ducks to handle.
The event's host, Drew,
was the first match of the
day for Hopkins. Freshmen
Rachel Kalina and
Sarah Hewes each won
two bouts in the Sabre. In
the Foil, sophomore Jackie
Heath and senior Colleen
Stone each went 3-0. In the
Epee, junior Komal Kumar
and freshman Gianna
Puzzo combined victories
to give the Blue Jays the
upper hand.
Following the rout
over the Rangers, Hopkins
squared off against
CCNY and won in dominant
fashion to put the
Blue Jays ahead with a 2-0
record. The Jays then took
their early success and
faced Haverford in the
third round.
The outcome was no
different than the first two
rounds for the Blue Jays.
Sophomore Kathleen Rand
and Kalina combined to
gain a 6-0 advantage in
the Sabre. Senior Lauren
Chinn won all three of
her bouts in the Epee to
seal the victory against the
Fords.
Hopkins then faced
their toughest opponent
of the day, Stevens Tech.
Stevens gave Hopkins
all they could handle but
ultimately did not take
charge and handed the
Blue Jays their first loss of
the day despite taking the
Epee, 7-2. The Blue Jays
rounded off the day with
dominant victories over
Hunter and Yeshiva.
The Blue Jays called on
their senior leaders to anchor
the victories needed
to take the championship
title. Seniors Jen Hession,
Chinn and Marion
Tr u m ba l l
r e c o r d e d
important
v i c t o r i e s
in their
respective
m a t c h e s
to give the
rest of the
Blue Jays
a prime
e x a m p l e
to follow.
These
v i c t o r i e s
came as no
s u r p r i s e;
these three
s e n i o r s
have had
outstanding
careers
at Hopkins
and their
collective
performance this past
weekend followed suit.
With the wins, Chinn and
Trumball reached career
milestones. Chinn reached
her 250th victory while
Trumball reached her
200th.
There were milestones
reached by younger members
of the team to accompany
these accomplishments.
Sophomore
Katherine Simeon and
Kumar each reached their
150th career victory. These
individual accomplishments
made up a collective
team effort that resulted in
the Blue Jays' third straight
Eastern Women's Fencing
Conference Championship.
The Blue Jays will face
these same teams next
weekend, but, this time, it
will be solely individual
competition for the Eastern
Women's Fencing Conference
Championship. If the
Blue Jays perform in the
same manner as this past
weekend, expect to see
many more accolades coming
their way.