The Tufts University women’s fencing team traveled to Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. on Saturday to compete in the 2022 New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Championships.
For each weapon, each school had one individual compete in one of three pools ― A, B and C ― in qualifying. The final team standings were determined by the total number of wins accumulated in qualifying.
The Jumbos placed second out of the 15 competing teams, winning 97 of their 119 individual bouts in total. Individual standings were subsequently determined in a direct elimination round, with seeding determined during qualifying.
Tufts’ sabre team placed second in their event with 34 victories in 39 bouts and only losing out on first place to MIT on the indicators — touches scored minus touches received — tiebreaker. This impressive showing included 10 victories in 14 bouts for first-year Anat Katz in Pool A, 13 victories in 14 bouts for first-year Millie Girardi in Pool B and 11 victories in 11 bouts for senior captain Bella McKinney in Pool C. All three qualified for the direct elimination round, where McKinney placed eighth, Girardi placed sixth and Katz medaled in third.
“I know it seems like it was a good result, but I lost 5–4 three times and … even though all those girls are really good, when you lose like that closely … it could go either way,” Katz said. “I tried my best but I feel like it definitely could’ve gone a different way.”
The Jumbos’ foil squad placed third in their event with 34 victories in 40 bouts. Sophomore Sydnee Lau won 11 of 14 bouts in Pool A, first-year Shannon Chen won 13 of 14 bouts in Pool B and senior Allison Cheng won 10 of 12 bouts in Pool C. Lau and Chen qualified for the elimination round, where Lau placed fifth and Chen medaled in third.
The Jumbos’ epee squad finished fifth in their event with 29 victories in 40 bouts. Junior Kaitlyn Gill won nine of 13 bouts in Pool A, first-year Olivia Tomasello won 10 of 14 bouts in Pool B and junior Arianna Minassian won 10 of 13 bouts in Pool C. Gill and Tomasello qualified for the direct elimination round, where Gill placed seventh and Tomasello medaled in third following a one-point victory in the quarterfinals.
“She’s really good at like sustaining herself for those even though those are really stressful, so I would commend her for that,” Katz said of Tomasello.
The Jumbos will travel next to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to compete in NCAA Regionals on March 13, giving them just under two weeks to prepare.
