In any sport, there comes a point at which a team reaches a state of exhaustion. With competitions against some of the top schools in the country for four of the last five weekends, coupled with a 15-hour drive to Virginia prior to its last meet, a lethargic Tufts women's fencing team seemed pass that point last weekend.
Tufts made the trek to Virginia to take part in the NEIWFA (National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association) Championships, its final team competition this season. While Temple University, a perennial powerhouse, dominated the tournament, the Jumbos were able hold their own and escape with a fourth place finish, despite a fairly frustrating afternoon.
The tournament was set up in the same format as the New England Championships, in which each team gets an A, B, and C fencer for each weapon for a total of nine fencers. Tufts found itself at a severe disadvantage early in the competition, when freshman foilist Emily Finn was issued a black card for unsportsmanlike conduct, after throwing her mask to the ground in frustration. The card removed Finn from the competition and negated all of her wins on the day, leaving the squad with only eight fencers for the remainder of the competition.
"We really didn't keep our focus very well this weekend," coach Jason Sachs said.
Despite the loss of Finn, the foil team was able to turn in an impressive effort, finishing fourth among the 15 foil teams. The epee squad likewise turned in a very impressive performance and finished the afternoon in fourth place.
"It was a very stressful competition, but we managed to pull it together," senior epeeist and captain Amy Dickinson said.
Dickinson carried the epee team with a solid 10-4 showing. Also turning in impressive performances were freshman Diedre Brown and sophomore Frances Harper.
While the sabre team had been one of the Jumbos strongest assets earlier this season, over the past two weeks it has seemingly collapsed in the face of the pressure of big tournaments. Just as the sabre team did not perform well under the pressure of the New England Championships, it was unable to stand up to the stresses of a large tournament in an unfamiliar setting, and finished in a disappointing ninth place.
"Our skill level is definitely there," Sachs said. "We need more in the way of heart, courage, and perseverance."
Individually, the Jumbos placed four fencers in the tournament finals. Sophomore foilists Lisa Gruender and Kim Harbin both qualified for the finals, finishing in fifth and eighth place, respectively. Sophomore sabreist Mika Mutoh also qualified, and was able to take out one of the Temple fencers. Not surprisingly, Dickinson, who went in with the fourth seed, also made it to the finals, and fought her way to the final four fencers, three of whom were from Temple. She finally lost in a close bout, and ended the tournament in fourth place.
"I was very happy with the way I fenced this weekend," Dickinson said.
Although this was the last team event for the Jumbos, they will send a number of fencers to the regional NCAA qualifiers next weekend. The fencers will face extremely talented competition from some of the top schools in the nation, such as Yale and Johns Hopkins, in its attempt to qualify for the national meet.
But Sachs said he is confident in Tufts' chances. "I feel that a few of our fencers have an outside chance at qualifying," he said.
Of these fencers, Dickinson probably has the greatest chance of qualifying, based on her season record and her experience at the event last season.
"I know I can do it, because I was so close last year, and I have improved this season," Dickinson said. "It's mainly a matter of handling the pressure, and I'm confident that I can do that."
