HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's fencing team competed this past Sunday in the 66th annual MACFA Championship, hosted by NJIT at the Durkan Fencing Academy in N.J. The team placed 4th out of 15 teams, one spot higher than its finish in 2015. Johns Hopkins won the tournament, the team's fourth in a row after Haverford's three-peat ended in 2012.

The epee squad of Eric Gardner, Jake Bassinder, Kailash Faris and Edward Ogborn placed third as Haverford's top weapon. The sabre squad was fourth, while the foil was fifth as a unit.

After the Team event wrapped up, the individual portion began. That round started with 16 qualifiers drawn from the A,B and C slots and seeded into a direct elimination table.

Foil fencers Ian Wheeler and Ching Li each just missed the individual event by two bouts as they competed in the A and B slots, respectively. In the sabre, Gabriel Braun and David Parker both qualified, with Braun tearing through his opponents until he had the bronze medal. He was only defeated by eventual champion Russio of NJIT. Parker placed seventh overall. Gardner and Bassinder both qualified to the individual epee, and ended up tying for third as both received bronze medals.

Several members of the men's fencing team are now poised to compete at the NCAA Regional Championship. That event will be held on Saturday, Mach 11 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.