MADISON, N.J. - On Saturday, March 3, the Haverford women's fencing team competed at the National Intercollegiate Fencing Association's 94th Annual Championships, held at Drew University in New Jersey.
The NIWFA is the oldest intercollegiate championships for any women's sport in the country. The Fords placed 10th of 16 competing teams; the tournament was won for the 21st consecutive year by Temple University. Johns Hopkins won the Division III award, with a second place overall finish, while Rutgers won the club team trophy.
The sabre squad of Caroline Donado, Becca Osbaldeston, and surprise guest star, Ceanne Lyon, finished in eighth place to lead the Fords results. Lyon's debut as a sabriste completes the first known trifecta in the history of the women's team, whereby she has competed in all three weapons at the NIWFA Championships. Lyon is also a member of the women's track & field team at Haverford.
Recruited as a foilist, Lyon filled in as an epeeist last season. Ceanne had her most successful performance to date as a sabriste. Proving that specialization for insects, she cross-pollinated epee and foil techniques to defeat experienced sabristes from Stevens Tech and Johns Hopkins, with a total of 6 wins in the "C" strip. Meanwhile, "A"-strip Donado qualified to the Individual portion of the tournament with eight wins in the team event, and placed 12th.
The foil squad placed ninth, and the epee squad 11th; sophomore Sophie Gardiner placed 10th in the foil individual, and Nina Hamilton placed 15th in the epee, both fencing the "A" strip to seven wins in the team competition. "B" strip foilist Nina Chafee also had success during the team event, and qualified as well to the individual, placing 14th overall.
This is the end of the season for most, but not all of the fencing team. Qualifiers and alternates to the NCAA Division I Regional Championships, held next Saturday at Lafayette College, include Sophie Gardiner, Aamina Dhar, Caroline Donado, and Nina Hamilton, who will take on the best from Princeton, Penn State, Duke, and other top DI programs from the MId-Atlantic/South Region as postseason play continues.