This past weekend, both the Hopkins men’s and women’s fencing teams were in action, participating in several matches. The men’s team played five matches on Sunday at the Philadelphia Invitational, winning four of the matches. One of Sunday’s victories came against ninth-ranked Duke University. The women’s team also traveled to Pennsylvania for the Philadelphia Invitational and faced stiff competition. They were able to pick up one victory out of four and faced three teams which are currently receiving votes for the CollegeFencing360.com Coaches’ Poll.
The men’s team got off to a shaky start in the Invitational, as they lost their first match handily to the host and third-ranked University of Pennsylvania, with a score of 21-6. In the Foil competition, the University of Pennsylvania Quakers beat Hopkins 5-4 as sophomore Ian Maddox won two out of his three bouts. The Quakers continued their domination in the Sabre competition, where they swept the Blue Jays 9-0. In the Epee, Penn completed their sweep with a 7-2 victory, with sophomore Matthias Philippine picking up Hopkins’ two wins.
Up next was the Drew University Rangers, whom Hopkins would dominate 22-5, winning all three weapons categories. Hopkins swept the Foil 9-0 on the back of Maddox. Sophomore Jared LeBron and freshmen Solomon Polansky, who each scored a perfect 3-0. In the Epee, Hopkins won 5-4 in a close match, with sophomore Denis Routkevitch winning his match in the final bout. Hopkins completed the sweep by winning the Sabre 8-1, with sophomore Sandy Vingoe leading the charge. Vingoe would go on to win eight of his 12 bouts on the day.
Hopkins then faced the Duke University Blue Devils, who entered the competition as the ninth ranked team. Hopkins would emerge victorious with a tight score line of 14-13. In the Foil, the Blue Jays won 5-4, with seniors Jay Petrie and Glenn Balbus each winning two out of three bouts. Duke was victorious in the Epee, as they won 5-4 with Philippine contributing two out of his possible three points. Hopkins clinched victory in the saber round, winning 5-4 with Vingoe and junior Daniel Dembner combining for four points.
In their next match against the Haverford College Fords, Hopkins again swept all three weapons with a final score of 19-8. They won the Foil 8-1, with three wins from Balbus. In the Epee, the Blue Jays won 5-4 as Philippine and freshmen William Snyder combining for 4 wins. Hopkins won the Sabre round 6-3, with freshmen Brian Huang leading the way with a perfect score of 3-0.
The men finished up the day with another tight victory, ending with a score of 14-13 against Sacred Heart. Hopkins won the foil 5-4, with Petrie earning three scores.
Sacred Heart then won the Epee 6-3, before Hopkins secured the win in the Sabre round, winning 6-3 with Vingoe earning three points in his performance.
The Blue Jays are now 19-10 on the season and will return to the action in Hackensack, N.J. for the 2016 MACFA Championship.
The Lady Jays walked away from the Invitational with just one win out of four games.
Hopkins opened the competition against Fairleigh Dickinson University and picked up their only win of the day. They dropped the foil 6-3, although senior Rachel Viqueira picked up two wins in her match.
Junior Katharine Couch led the charge in the Epee, as Hopkins picked up a 7-2 win, with Couch winning all three of her bouts. The Lady Jays then secured the win with a sweep of the Sabre round, with senior Isabella So, junior Nancy Kim and freshman Shiaomeng Tse each winning 3-0 in their respective bouts.
The Lady Jays lost to host University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) with a score decision of 19-8. In that match, UPenn won both the foil and the Epee with a score of 6-3, with freshman Celine Shanosky winning two of her three bouts in Epee.
Hopkins then followed up with another loss to Duke University, with a score of 19-8 as well. Duke won the foil 7-2, with freshman Rebecca Rosenthal winning the two bouts. In Epee, Duke also won 7-2, with Couch and Shanosky each winning a bout. In the Sabre, Tse got Hopkins’ only win as Duke won 8-1.
Hopkins went on to get swept in all three weapons categories in the next two matches against Cornell University (21-6) and Sacred Heart University (18-9).
The Lady Jays are now 13-13 on the season, with head coach Austin Young (1997) only two wins away from tying James Murray (2002-2009) for the title of Winningest Coach in the Women’s Program.
