Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Release
PHILADELPHIA – Haverford College men's fencing standouts Jake Bassinder and Gabriel Braun have been voted to the 2016-17 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area at-large team. The all-area team is voted on by the sports information offices of the 29 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
The at-large teams take into account those student-athletes from area schools whose sports do not have a dedicated Academic All-Area team. In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, an athlete must be in at least his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better.
Bassinder earned the award for the second straight season. He is just the second men's fencer in program history to earn inclusion twice on this team as he joins Andrew Bostick '12 who earned this distinction during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The senior epeeist really hit his stride in the postseason as he went 17-0 during the MACFA "A" vs. "C" bouts, 7-1 during the MACFA "B" vs. "C" bouts, and was 9-5 in the "B" pool of the MACFA Championship. He also had an eighth place finish at the Temple Open to his credit. Bassinder was an Ambler Scholar-Athlete, recognizing the top 16 GPAs among senior student-athletes at Haverford.
Braun, a sophomore sabrist, earned the distinction in his first year eligible for the award. Braun started his year by being named Haverford's Archibald MacIntosh Award recipient for the top scholar-athlete in the first year class. In the postseason, he led the sabre squad to a weapon squad championship at the MACFA Championships as he was 12-2 overall in the "B" pool. He totaled a 26-1 record during the MACFA team duals. A regional qualifier, Braun advanced to the NCAA Regional second round and finished his season in 19th place.
Men's fencing totaled 21 team victories during the 2016-17 season for its highest win total since the 2010-11 season. The Fords placed third at the MACFA Championship, coming just five bouts wins short of the conference title. Haverford qualified eight fencers to the NCAA Regional on the men's side.