The Hopkins women’s fencing team — now en-route to their fourth straight title — dominated the Eastern Women’s Fencing Conference Championship this past weekend in Baltimore. The team managed to go unbeaten in six matches to claim the top spot and, in each match up, the Blue Jays blew away the competition.
The Blue Jays first matched up against Yeshiva. In round one, the Blue Jays shut out Yeshiva by a score of 27-0. In the foil, junior Jackie Heath and freshmen Rachel Viqueira each went 3-0 to give the Jays an early lead. Sophomore Rachel Kalina, junior Katherine Simeon and freshman Isabella So led the Blue Jays to a 9-0 victory in the Sabre. Following suit, in the Epee, sophomore Gianna Puzzo, freshmen Katie Whitaker and Kelly Seeger led the squad to a 9-0 victory.
The Blue Jays carried the momentum gained by the first round rout of Yeshiva into their match up with Drew. The Jays nearly posted another shutout but settled with a commanding 25-2 victory. The Blue Jays just lost two bouts in the Sabre in their path to victory.
Next up on the Blue Jays list was Stevens. Although the Jays came out on top once again, this match was not an easy victory. The Blue Jays won both the Sabre and the Foil by a 6-3 score, while Stevens took the Epee by a score of 6-3. The match ended with a 15-12 score and the Blue Jays moved to 3-0 on the day.
The Blue Jays got back on their dominant path against Hunter. The Jays took down the Hawks by a score of 24-3. In a similar fashion, the Jays took down Haverford by a score of 20-7, which marked the largest margin of victory in thirteen years.
Following this match, the Blue Jays finished out the day against the City College of New York. The decisive 20-7 victory sealed the fourth straight conference championship for the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays took the Sabre by a 7-2 score with Kalina, Simeon and So each recording two victories. In the Foil, the Blue Jays did not lose a bout as Heath, Lau and Delamater led the Jays to a 9-0 win. Finally, in the Epee, the Blue Jays fell by a 5-4 score but this did not alter the overall outcome of the match.
Kalina continued her great performances this past weekend and improved to 47-17 on the season and in the process nabbed her 100th career win, resulting in a 101- 27 record in two seasons. She led the Blue Jays with a 17-0 record in the Sabre on Sunday.
Heath also reached an important milestone, her 200th victory, en route to a 14-2 record on the day giving her a career record of 209-82.
The Blue Jays 6-0 record on the day enabled the squad to capture their fourth consecutive championship title. This great accomplishment will surely propel the team forward in the coming events.
