Freshman Fencers Make Immediate Impression

In the season opener at Penn State, Harvard’s top four fencers all had one thing in common: They were all rookies.

Freshmen Tim Hagamen and David Jakas placed third and sixth, respectively, in the men’s saber, while fellow freshmen Chloe Stinetorf and Anne Austin secured fourth and sixth place finishes in the women’s foil.

“They are straight off the national circuit,” co-captain Liz åBlase said. “When you get to college, you don’t practice the same way. It is pretty hard with classes and the exam schedule. They are hot from their high school experience and it is great to see them do so well.”

Blase, who also competes in the foil event, finished 19th out of 44 competitors.

“I wasn’t unhappy with my performance, but I was not really happy either,” Blase said. “I certainly didn’t play to my potential. There were some golden moments, but I have to work on stringing those moments together.”

After the top four freshmen, co-captain Amy Bei delivered the Crimson’s next-best performance, finishing 10th in the women’s saber.

Rounding out the saber division, junior Eunice Yi just missed the top-10 with an 11th place finish, sophomore Asaya Agulnik placed 22nd and freshmen Amy Li came in 24th.

In the épée event, junior Sarah Park was the Crimson’s top performer, finishing 21st.

The Crimson travels to New York next weekend to face perennial Ivy League powerhouse Columbia. Although this will be Harvard’s first team competition of the year, it could very well decide the Ivy title.

“We used this weekend just to get focused for Columbia next week,” Blase said. “I think we are ready, and we are looking to do well in Ivy play.”

In the men’s draw, the foil team showed its depth, with all four fencers placing in the top half of a field of 55.

Freshman Jonathan Carter led the pack in 12th, sophomore Philip Sherrill followed in 15th, freshman Ian Polonsky placed 21st and co-captain Ben Schmidt was just behind in 22nd.

In the epee, Julian Rose continued the string of impressive freshman finishes with an 11th-place performance. Senior Derek Lindblom followed in 16th, and junior Steve Milder turned in the team’s final top-20 result in 19th.

—Staff writer Timothy Jackson can be rached at jackson2@fas.harvard.edu.