The men's and women's fencing squads faced stiff competition in the annual Ivy League Championships at Princeton Feb. 12 and 13. Both teams finished in fifth place, winning one match-up each.
The men's team bested last-place Columbia with 15 five-touch bouts to the Lions' 12, and the women's squad defeated the winless Yale Bulldogs, 15-12.
Kathryn Hawrot '14 of the foil team won 11 of her 15 bouts, giving her the third-best result in the women's foil category and positioning her for selection to the All-Ivy team.
Her style of in-fighting, in which the fencer comes within a foot or two of an opponent and tries to approach from a different angle than usual, served her well in a bout against Lucile Jarry of Princeton. Throughout the match, Jarry tried to launch swift attacks and reprises from a distance, leaving herself open to Hawrot's close-range approach.
Despite Hawrot's impressive 5-2 win — the foil squad's first victory in its first round of the round-robin tournament — the squad was unable to pull out a win against Princeton, going 3-6 for the round.
"We were disappointed," Hawrot said. "I think this is the hardest tournament."
Princeton's women's team dominated the competition, coming in first place overall and defeating three schools by a margin of at least 13 bouts.
Brown's women's epee squad's 6-3 victory propelled the whole team to victory over Yale — the squad's only win. "We were really into it," Hawrot said.
"We need to work on being able to clench the victory," Laney Caldwell '14 said, referring to the epee team's sizeable number of one-touch losses. Caldwell placed 13th in the competition with an even result of 7-7, right behind her sister, Phoebe, of the Princeton epee squad, who went 8-8. If it had not been for a last-minute substitution by Princeton's coach, the two would have fenced — which Caldwell said she wanted to do.
"Fencing Princeton was fun," Laney said.
All of the Ivies presented a challenge for the Bears.
"There are … no breaks," Hawrot said, explaining the women's team's loss to Cornell in the last round. The foil squad went 3-6 against Cornell, saber went 1-8 — with Caitlin Taylor '13 winning the only bout — and epee won four out of nine, within one bout of a victory.
The Bears will be going to New York University for the National Squad Championships Feb. 27.
