PHILADELPHIA - On Saturday, the Haverford women's fencing team competed for the first time since March of 2020 at the Temple Open, the largest intercollegiate individual tournament in the country at the Liacouras Center. The annual season-opening tournament featured Olympians, All-Americans, and a slew of NCAA Division I opponents from across the country, from Northwestern to the University of Florida. The format was two rounds of seeding pools, with 80 percent advancing to the Direct Elmination tableau of 128 fencers.
Leading all results on the day was first-year sabriste Aamina Dhar, whose 42nd place finish belied her skill and enthusiasm. Seeded 35th after pools, Dhar drew top Wagner fencer No. 29 Abby Buckborough in the round of 64. Buckborough squeaked past Dhar, 15-14, in a hotly contested match that saw three lead changes before the finish. Junior Caroline Donado, seeded 57th after pools, put a scare into the 3rd seed Sharon Ni from NYU, keeping it close until Ni ran away with it in the end, catching Donado trying to defend in the middle to make it 15-10.
Along with Dhar and Donado, Maria Yea and Sofia Nicolayevsky also each won a victory in their opening pool rounds, advancing the pair to the Direct Elimination table where they finished 58th and 63rd, respectively, each getting four well executed and crafty touches on tough opponents from Penn and Penn State. In her debut competition for the Fords, sophomore Becca Osbaldeston found her footing in the consolation round after getting blanked in the pools, winning bouts against fellow novices while showing skill and positivity.
After great performances in the pools, senior foilist Golda Glasser had the unfortunate fate of fencing teammate first-year Claudia van Vloten in the round of 128. Glasser eventually triumphed over her teammate and moved on to finish 55th, and later took a shellacking from Shalansky, she of Northwestern. Also winning key pool bouts and making the cut to the DE tableau were first-year Sophie Gardiner and junior Ceanne Lyon, finishing 58th and 69th, respectively.
Sophomore Petra Budavari, notching her debut for the Fords, had the honor of being on strip against local Olympian Maia Weintraub from Princeton in her first pool. Despite a win against Bryn Mawr, Budavari didn't make the cut to the DE tableau, but dominated in the consolation round pool, as did teammate Macy Brooks. Epeeists Katherine Conn and Joselyne Malan kept their poise and positivity in their first competitions as Fords, as they learned on the fly and also won in the consolation round.
The Haverford women's fencing team will next compete on Sunday, November 14th at the Vassar Invitational in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Final Finishes:
Foilists:
Golda Glasser 55
Sophie Gardiner 58
Ceanne Lyon T-69
Claudia van Vloten T-74
Petra Budavari 76
Macy Brooks 78
Epeeists:
Katherine Conn 75T
Joselyne Malan 85
Sabristes:
Aamina Dhar 42
Caroline Donado 57
Maria Yea 58
Sofia Nicolayevsky T-63
Rebecca Osbaldeston 74