In the first half of the Ivy League Championship last week, the women's fencing team took the spotlight for Brown's contingent, picking up its first-ever Ivy League win by upsetting Princeton. On Sunday, it was the men's turn, as they beat Yale 16-11 to pick up their first victory.
The men, who finished 1-5 for the round-robin tournament, had defeated the Bulldogs at the Brandeis Invitational 15-12 in December and felt confident entering the rematch. The foil squad led the way, winning eight of nine matches. Jeremy Zeitlin '07 and Nick Bender '09 both went 3-0, while Jeremy Moore '06 won his two matches. The saber squad went 6-3, with Jeremy Adler '06, Dan Mahoney '07 and Sam Levine '08 all posting 2-1 records. Epeeist Adrian Martin '06 also went 2-1.
"It's a morale boost," Adler said of the win over the Bulldogs. "It also makes us feel like we belong in the Ivies."
The women's team hoped it could also pull off a win against Yale over the weekend but was unsuccessful in its bid, falling 18-9 to also finish with a 1-5 record. The saber squad was able to ease the pain of the loss a bit by winning 5-4, with Charlotte Gartenberg '08 and Deborah Gorth '09 taking two of three matches and Olivia Partyka '06 adding the fifth win. Epeeist Christine Livoti '08 turned in Brown's other 2-1 record.
"It just didn't really come together," said All-American Ruth Schneider '06, who thought the Bears suffered due to their long wait before competing in their first match. "I think the scheduling might have thrown us off a bit."
Neither squad fared well against Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, Brown's other opponents at the championships. The men fell to those squads 21-6 and 23-4, respectively. Adler and Martin were the only Brown fencers with winning 2-1 records against the Crimson, and foilist and Herald photographer Toby Cohen '09 and epeeist Pat Culhane '06 picked up the other two victories. No Bear was able to win more than once against Penn, with Adler, Martin, Culhane and Bender each defeating one opponent. Cohen's win was the most impressive of the day for Bruno. He knocked off Harvard's Sam Cross at the third foilist position after Cross had already beaten Brown's No. 1 and No. 2 competitors.
"That was our biggest upset of the year," Adler said. "It was quite remarkable for Cohen to beat (Cross). He fenced very intelligently."
The women fell by 21-6 counts against both teams. Livoti led the way with a 2-1 record in the Harvard loss. Schneider turned in her only 3-0 performance of the day against Penn, which was sandwiched between 1-2 records against Harvard to start the day and Yale to finish it.
Despite her 5-4 record on the day, Schneider currently sits in a tie for the fourth-best record for her weapon at 12-6, guaranteeing her second team All-Ivy honors. However, Schneider had more important things on her mind after the match.
"I think it would be great to make first team All-Ivy. ... (Being named to the first team) would show we belong in the Ivies," Schneider said. "But I'm more focused on the New England (Championships) right now."
Princeton was unable to make the meet, held at Columbia University, due to the snow, so All-Ivy honors will not be decided until the Tigers' matches with Harvard, Columbia and Yale have been made up. As things stand, two losses by Harvard's Jasmine McGlade (11-4) in her three bouts or a record of 4-5 or worse by Erin McGarry of Princeton (8-1) in those matches would bump Schneider up to the first team.
This weekend, Brown will take part in the New England Championships held at Wellesley College. Both squads expect to fare well.
"Traditionally, we do very well in the New Englands, and I hope we will do the same this year," Schneider said. "I think we definitely have the chance to win."
