Freshmen Excel in College Spotlight

Having lost world-class foil fencer and junior Emily Cross to the rigors of an Olympic training regimen, it would only be natural for one to assume that the Harvard women’s foil fencing squad would be suffering an off year.

After all, without Cross, last year’s NCAA champions have had to rely on a starting foil squad comprised entirely of a trio of freshman. As is the case with most sports, freshman fencers typically struggle with the adjustment to the life of a college athlete.

Apparently Misha Goldfeder, Arielle Pensler, and Anna Podolsky are not your typical freshman.

Coach Peter Brand’s three newest recruits have thrived helping the Crimson to a 2nd place finish in the Ivy League and a No. 4 national ranking the USFCA Coaches’ Poll.

The youth movement has been led by Goldfeder, who has fenced much of the spring season with a nagging thumb injury on her weapon hand. The Rochester N.Y. native, apparently unfazed by the handicap, placed first in this past weekend’s IFA Individual Championship for women’s foil as Harvard won its third consecutive IFA three-weapon title.

“You never know what even an experienced fencer is going to do for you in the first year,” Brand said. “But in this case all three of them have absolutely shined throughout the year and have just gotten stronger as the season has proceeded.”

Although Goldfeder, Pensler, and Podolsky may be rookies on the collegiate level, each arrived on campus accomplished in club and junior national competition.

Goldfeder began fencing when she was seven and competed throughout high school for the Rochester Fencing Club. The club’s head coach, Nat Goodhartz, is also one of the head coaches of the U.S. women’s national team.

Pensler, who hails from Chicago, Ill., picked up fencing at age 10 after watching her younger brother try it out. She soon found out the heavy toll her new sport took on her body.

“The first day after I did it for the very first time I couldn’t walk the next day because my legs were so sore,” she said.

In a sport like fencing, which requires athletes to use a very sport-specific set of muscles, it is often the case that the most successful athletes are the ones who start at the youngest ages.

This was precisely the obstacle that Anna Podolsky found herself facing four years ago at age 14.

Podolsky was originally a gymnast, but multiple stress fractures derailed her career at a young age. After hearing about fencing from several fellow gymnasts, Podolsky decided to give it a shot.

The three women have since been brought together by Brand’s recruiting and now find themselves a part of a closely knit team that they say provides them support in training and beyond.

It also doesn’t hurt that the three members of the class of 2010 knew each other before arriving on campus. Years of competing against one another in junior national competition provided a solid base for a friendship that continues to grow.

“The three of us all get along really well and we’re really good friends on and off the [team],” Pensler said.

This friendship has been crucial in allowing the freshman foil fencers to adjust to the additional pressure placed on their shoulders in the wake of Cross’ departure.

“We’re really supportive of each other and we’ve been doing really well,” Goldfeder said. “So I don’t think any of us felt extremely pressured because of Emily leaving.”

The success of his freshman foil fencers has Brand feeling confident about the future of Harvard women’s fencing.

“We’re going to be in contention every year,” he said. “I guarantee we are always going to be contending.”