SEASON RECAP: Harvard Takes Rocky Road to Finish Sixth at NCAAs

Some see the sixth-place finish for the Harvard fencing team and think, “What a disappointment after last year’s No.1.” Those more acutely aware of this season understand the value this number holds.

There was no question that a repeat would be tough. Last year’s unbeatable squad became the first ever to win a national championship.

This year started off with the same goal in mind. And then came the roadblocks.

Junior foil fencer Emily Cross—the two-time Junior World Champion—left to train for the Olympics, never again to fence wearing Crimson. Junior Carolyn Wright decided to go abroad. A battle with leukemia sidelined men’s co-captain foilist Sam Cross.

Down two foilists and a saber fencer, Harvard set out to defend its title while taking on tougher competition.

In the Ivy League, Penn was better, and so was Columbia. Nationally, the competition was as stiff as ever. At the NCAA Tournament, the Crimson faced the challenge of taking on 12-person teams with just 11 fencers—it was almost impossible for Harvard to take home the gold.

“The field in general was probably the strongest I’ve seen in the last five or six years, especially with Penn State,” Crimson coach Peter Brand. “The depth of their roster was something I have not seen in quite a long time. In each weapon, in each event, they had literally a world class fencer.”

Finishing sixth with seven All-Americans at nationals, the season could hardly be called sub-par.

“I think we really did as well as we could in terms of individual performances,” added senior epee fencer Jasmine McGlade. “Going in, I thought we could get a higher result, but it wasn’t necessarily a reflection of how we were fencing. It sounds like a big drop, but in reality, it’s really strong given the other teams.”

Despite all these obstacles, the Crimson united to put together a more than respectable season.

Much of the early doubt stemmed from the women’s foil squad. But three freshmen—Misha Goldfeder, Arielle Pensler, and Sam Podolsky—more than rose to the occasion. Goldfeder and Pensler both made nationals, and Goldfeder finished 10th in the nation—good enough for All-America honors.

But what may have been most surprising for the women was the epee. Seniors Jasmine McGlade and Precious Eboigbe and sophomore Maria Larsson carried the Crimson throughout much of the season.

“They’ve been really solid,” Brand said. “They feed off of each other’s enthusiasm, they’re very pumped for each match, they help each other.”

In the women’s saber, junior Alexa Weingarden was the sole fencer to make nationals, although co-captain Samantha Parker fell just short of an at-large bid. Weingarden finished 11th in the competition and became an All-American for the first time.

The women lost just twice all season in head-to-head team meets but were not able to pull out an Ivy League Championship, falling short of the Lions’ level.

The men, however, lost just once and earned a share of the title behind co-captain Tim Hagamen’s record year.

The senior won 23 bouts in the NCAA Tournament on his way to his first individual championship, the first saber win and fourth individual title in Harvard history.

The other weapons’ squads did not perform poorly, either.

Junior epee fencer Teddy Sherrill and senior foilist Enoch Woodhouse finished in the top 10 to earn All-American status.

After battling knee problems all season, senior saber Dan Sachs pulled through in the end to place 15th, while sophomore Kai Itameri-Kinter matched his performance in the foil.

Through its performances at the IFA, the Ivy League, and NCAAs, the Crimson showed this year that last season’s national title was no fluke. Harvard is here to stay and will continue to challenge competitors on the highest level.

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