NEW YORK – The Haverford College fencing teams had a pair of medal winners Sunday as the men's epeeists and women's foilists each took home bronze medals at the first annual U.S. National Weapon Squad Championships at New York University. The matches were held in the Olympic "relay" format, which sets teams of three against each other in a series of nine bouts. The scoring is cumulative to a total of 45.
The women's sabrists started off against top-ranked (and eventual champion) University of Notre Dame, dropping a 45-17 decision to the Fighting Irish. In the next match, the women's sabre squad lost a heartbreaker to the University of North Carolina, 45-43, in the placement round, and finished seventh on the day. The women's epeeists received a bye into the round of eight based on seeding, but lost to a very strong Columbia University team, 45-17, and then almost upset Yale University, losing by a narrow 45-42 count. The women's epee team capped off the day with a 45-42 victory over Farleigh-Dickinson University and finished seventh.
In the afternoon, the women's foilists, seeded sixth, pulled an upset over fourth-ranked NYU, downing the hosts, 44-39. In the round of four, the Fords were unable to overcome Ivy League powerhouse University of Pennsylvania, but settled for third place and bronze medals.
Scoring leaders on the women's side were Anjali Baliga in the epee and Shannon Horn in the sabre. Rupinder Garcha, Amanda Levinson and Katie Elbert all were in top form for the women's foil squad.
The men's foilists were upset by Hunter College, 45-41, in the round of 16. In the placement round the Fords beat Yeshiva University and wound up ninth. The men's sabre squad dropped its round of eight bout to Yale, 45-33, but rallied for impressive wins over NYU, 45-36, and Johns Hopkins University, 45-40, for a fifth-place finish.
The men's epeeists blindsided the third-ranked Columbia squad in the round of eight, triumphing, 45-42. Haverford was unable to sustain the momentum against Yale, falling by a 45-35 score which resulted in third place and the bronze medal.
Scoring leaders for the men were Aaron Ruby and Oliver Elbert in the sabre, who were joined for brief flashes of brilliance by Linus Marco. Andrew Bostick performed admirably in the epee, shutting down a potential rally from Columbia in his role of the closing bout of that match.
The fencing teams go their separate ways next weekend, as the women travel to Johns Hopkins for the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA) championship Saturday, while the men compete Sunday in the Middle Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association (MACFA) championships at the College of William & Mary.