M.,W. Fencing Makes Steady Improvements

As the Harvard women's fencing team can attest, the road to glory sometimes contains a few speed bumps.

After taking steps toward improvement in recent years, the Crimson women finally showed signs of coming into its own this season. But just when it seemed Harvard was on the fast track to garnering national recognition, the Crimson encountered a couple of frustrating setbacks at the International Fencing Assocation championships and then at NCAAs.

The men, meanwhile, did not ascend the ranks quite so quickly, but they took another big step in the right direction nonetheless. Under second-year Coach Peter Brand, the Crimson compiled an 8-9 overall record, a major improvement over last year's finish.

Harvard Women

Make no mistake-the women's fencing team is back on the rise. One year after finishing just above the .500 mark, the Crimson blazed through the regular season in 2001, posting a remarkable 17-3 record in dual meets.

The team's three defeats all came at the hands of Ivy opponents, which traditionally provide the toughest competition that the Crimson faces all year. The 22-5 loss to Columbia on snapped Harvard's string of seven wins that came by an average margin of 15 bouts.

After falling to the Lions, though, the Crimson rebounded to claim victory in all five of its matches at the Northeast Fencing Conference Meet.

Riding high on the strength of its regular season showing, the Crimson had been hoping to make some noise at the International Fencing Association (IFA) championships in March. Instead, the Harvard women finished in the middle of the pack, placing sixth out of 14 teams.

The Crimson did receive a strong showing in the foil, as junior Emily Katz won five of her seven bouts to place third and junior co-captain Ellen Schulz finished eleventh. In addition, the sabre squad placed third.

While the IFAs provided a disappointing ending to the team season, three individual competitors gained some redemption at the NCAA Regionals. There, Katz and freshman Liz Blasé both qualified for the NCAA championships in the foil, while senior Tamara Knutsen qualified in the epee.

Once they arrived at NCAAs, however, the Crimson again met with adversity.

After winning eight of her first 17 bouts, Katz-who finished seventh one year ago-suffered a torn ACL and was forced her to withdraw from competition. She was in 11th place before she got hurt, but by the end of the event, she had slipped back to 15th.

Meanwhile, Knutzer and Blasé-both in their first year of collegiate fencing-placed 19th and 22nd, respectively.

Despite the frustrations encountered this season, Harvard's remarkable regular- season record and several individual success stories were certainly encouraging. They did not go unrecognized either. For their efforts this year, Knutsen was named to the All-Ivy First Team in the epee, while Katz received Second Team recognition in the foil.

In addition, sophomore Amy Bei claimed Second Team All-Ivy honors in the sabre, further demonstrating the great strides the Harvard women have made in just their second year competing with that weapon.

Harvard Men

The men's regular season was a bit of a mixed bag. After racing off to a fast start that ran the Crimson's record up to 4-1, Harvard ran into some stiff competition in the second half of the season and dropped its last six meets.

Throughout the year, the Crimson was guided by co-captain Davin Chew, senior Mark Lee and sophomore Tom Weisman in the epee. Co-captain Eugene Chew and sophomore Derek Lindblom, meanwhile, led the charge in the epee. At the Northeast Fencing Conference Meet in November, Lindblom won nine bouts, while Chew, Lee and Cha each registered eight victories.

At IFAs, Harvard finished a lackluster eleventh. Even still, the men's and women's squads combined for a eighth-place overall showing, a one-spot improvement over last year.

Cha was the men's team's lone qualifier for NCAAs this year. Advancing to the national competition was a personal triumph for Cha, who had fenced at NCAAs as a freshman but had not returned since.

Unfortunately, however, Cha's tale did not have a happy ending. Like Katz, he too suffered an injury that forced him to withdraw on the second day of competition. After winning eight of his bouts, Cha sustained a wrist injury that prevented him from continuing. He still held on to finish 20th in the field.

Still a young team, the Crimson has plenty to look forward to next year, and-as the its performances against the elite Ivy teams such as Columbia and Penn indicates-much work remains to be done.