Crimson Tries To Avoid Being Foiled In Repeat Bid

The Harvard fencing team is met with high expectations for the winter after last year’s storybook season.

The squad will make its 2006-07 debut this Saturday and Sunday at the Penn State Open in State College, Pa. In last year’s event, the women’s squad placed five fencers in the top 10, while the men placed four in the top five in their individual events.

“I definitely think it’s a warmup,” junior foil Emily Cross said. “It’s kind of a preview of a lot of the good teams we are going to be competing against. Our results don’t have any impact on the season, so it’s a nice way to gauge where we are and figure out what we need to work on.”

Last year’s preparation must have good, because the squad put together a legendary season. After winning its first Ivy League title in 2004, the team responded by winning another in 2005.

But this was no ordinary repeat season. The team tacked on its first-ever NCAA championship, spotlighting the strong team built by coach Peter Brand.

The men’s side placed six fencers on the all-Ivy team, including junior Benji Ungar in epee. Ungar won the men’s individual gold medal at the NCAAs, and later went on to nab the bronze at the junior world championships in Taebacek City, South Korea.

The women were not to be outdone. In addition to their Ivy League and NCAA glory, Cross won her second junior world title in a row in the foil.

“For me it was an extra bonus,” Cross said. “We went into worlds still aglow from our NCAA victory. It’s refreshing to see Harvard play well on not only a national level but an international level, since most top fencers go to scholarship schools.”

But new competition looms. Annual powerhouses Penn State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, as well as Ivy League foe Columbia, have all improved in the offseason.

And as always there will be a transitional period as spots shuffle with the graduation of seniors and incorporation of freshmen.

Last year, Harvard came to count on reliable captains Anne Austin and Chloe Stinetorf in the foil not only to perform, but to lead by example. On the men’s side the void is left by epee Julian Rose, someone Brand cites as a major factor in the NCAA victory, and captain David Jakus, who brought consistency over his four years.

“It’s going to be a challenge to see if we can get some of the less experienced fencers to step up to fill their shoes,” Brand said. “But it’s a great bunch of people. They are extremely optimistic, hard-working, and they have high goals.”

The aid of the incoming freshmen may remedy the holes. To replace Stinetorf and Austin there are three new freshmen foilists—Artemisha Goldfeder, Arielle Pensler, and Anna Podolsky. The men will try to bridge the gap in epee with strong juniors and seniors, although nationally-ranked freshman Billy Stallings may also get in on the action.

The impact of the freshmen will be based on whether or not they can perform in practice as well as they can on paper. Despite previous competitive experience, bouts at the college level often prove a new challenge.

“Competing at the college level there are different pressures,” Brand said. “It remains to be seen how those freshmen will hold up against the new competition and pressures in the college ranks.”

In the weapon breakdown, both the men’s and women’s squads boast foil as their strengths. With Ungar and Cross returning, in addition to the strong freshmen and upperclassmen who are expected to step up, the team looks to have a shot at top three in the country, if not a repeat.

But Brand is not making forecasting outcomes just yet.

“I don’t like to make predictions,” Brand said. “I’m not good at it. I didn’t like to do it last year, and I’m fairly reluctant to do that again this year. The only thing I can say is generally my players have performed above what I’ve expected. They’ve certainly stepped it up. I expect they’ll do that again this year.”

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.