BALTIMORE, Md. - The Haverford College women's fencing team placed second at the 2013 Eastern Women's Fencing Conference (EWFC) Championship, held Sunday at Johns Hopkins University.

The second-place finish was the Fords' best in four years, since they won the conference in 2009. Johns Hopkins repeated as champion for the fourth year in a row.

Opening strong against Hunter College and City College of New York (CCNY), Haverford dominated its NYC rivals in the first two rounds.

After the lunch break, the Fords faced the first of two matches to determine the championship, perennial runner-up Stevens Institute of Technology and defending champions Johns Hopkins. In the second round Johns Hopkins had edged Stevens 15-12, so for both teams the matchup was do-or-die. In the last bout of the match, at 13-all, foilist Katie Elbert triumphed 5-3 over Stevens' Chen to seal the win.

However Haverford was not able to maintain the momentum against the sturdy host team in the next round, having left it all on the strips against Stevens Institute. The Blue Jays fought to a decisive victory against the drained Fords.

Spirits were quickly restored with resounding victories over Drew University and Yeshiva University in the final two rounds of the competition to help the Fords claim second place.

Leading scorers on the day were Katie Elbert in the foil, with an impressive 13-1 record;
epeeist Sarah Sofia was 15-2, and sabriste Shannon Horn was 10-4 on the day.

Next weekend the Fords will travel to Stevens for the individual portion of the EWFC championships


Haverford def. Hunter, 25-2
Epee: 7- 2
Foil: 9-0
Sabre: 9-0

Haverford def. CCNY, 22-5
E: 7-2
F: 8-1
S: 7-2

Haverford def. Stevens, 14-13
E: 5-4
F: 6-3
S: 3-6

Johns Hopkins def. Haverford, 20-7
E: 5-4
F: 7-2
S: 8-1

Haverford def. Drew, 23-4
E: 9-0
F: 9-0
S: 5-4

Haverford def. Yeshiva, 27-0
Epee: 9-0
Foil:9-0
Sabre:9-0