The men’s and women’s fencing teams finished undefeated with large margins of victory in their only home meet of the year on Saturday. At the second tournament of the year for the Northeast Fencing Conference, Brown hosted 13 schools from New England, competing successfully in foil, saber and epee to win all of its matches.
“With respect to strategy and attitude, the team did a very good job,” said co-captain Cory Abbe ’13. “Knowing to get in with the right mindset and game plan will help us over the next weekends.”
Brown’s fencing programs dominated the NFC this year — the men’s team finished 9-1, losing only to Sacred Heart in the first tournament at MIT in November, while the women’s team finished undefeated for the first time since the 2007-2008 season.
“Every year we beat our program record — our national rank and NCAA ranking goes up on a yearly basis,” said co-captain Kelly McGuire ’13. “The team is as strong as it has ever been. It is really exciting to see.”
On the women’s side, Audrey Lee ’16 and Kathryn Hawrot ’14, fighting with foils, went 17-1 and 18-0 at the tournament, respectively. Abbe, on the epee squad, compiled a 13-2 record during the tournament. On the saber team, Christine Whalen ’15 bolstered Bruno by going 15-1, along with Lauren Altman ’16, who finished 16-3.
For the men, the epee team, led by McGuire and Simon Jones ’16, went 8-1 with victories against Dartmouth and Brandeis. The saber squad featured big performances from Teddy Weller ’13 and Nick Deak ’14. For the men’s foil, Barrett Weiss ’15 and James Golin ’13 each helped Bruno maintain large margins, with two 26-1 performances over both Vassar and the University of New Hampshire.
McGuire said he thought the team maintained a good attitude during the tournament.
“I feel that our most valuable team dynamic is the fact that we are all passionate about fencing — we were coaching and cheering each other on,” McGuire said.
In two weekends, the squads will compete at the Ivy League Championship at Harvard and the NCAA qualifiers in early March. Last year, Brown was represented by six athletes at the NCAA Division I Tournament, where the squad finished 13th.
“I am looking forward to maintaining our current focus, and cannot express how proud I am of how the seniors on the team are giving it their best,” Abbe said.
McGuire added that the first-years on the squad have been performing well. “As a senior, it feels good to know that I will be leaving the team in good hands,” he said.
Bruno’s efforts continue this weekend at the Eric Sollee Invitational at MIT.
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