Men's Fencing Earns Share of Ivy Title, Women Take Second

Late Sunday afternoon, both the Harvard men’s and women’s fencing teams were hoping for a little bit of help heading into the final matches of the Ivy League Round-Robins. With the Ivy League title for both teams coming down to bouts that did not include the Crimson, the Harvard men came away with a share of their second-straight Ivy League title while the women had to settle for second, despite freshman sabre fencer Adrienne Jarocki’s undefeated record.

MEN'S FENCING

Having lost a 14-13 nail-biter to No. 1 Columbia early on Sunday, the Crimson needed No. 5 Princeton to beat the Lions for a share of the title. But with the Tigers down, 12-10, with five bouts remaining, it seemed as though the Harvard men would come back to Cambridge empty-handed.

But Princeton, whom the Crimson had beaten, 18-9, the previous day, mounted an unlikely comeback, winning the next four bouts against the top-ranked team in the nation. The Tigers’ upset gave Harvard a share of its second-straight Ivy League title and eighth crown in program history.

“We went from a very dire mood—the guys were on the verge of tears when we lost to Columbia—to resurrection that occurred in basically the last event of the day,” Harvard coach Peter Brand said.  It was just one of those roller-coaster days.”

Though the team was ranked sixth in the country coming into the weekend, the Crimson needed to turn things around after a 1-4 showing at the St. John’s Invitational two weeks before. The men set the tone on Saturday with three convincing wins over top-flight opponents.

Harvard blew past Yale in the first round of the weekend, 22-5, with sophomore sabre fencer Duncan O’Brien, freshman épéeist Alexander Eldeib, and the foil trio of sophomore Michael Woo, junior Brian Kaneshige, and sophomore Jerry Chang each going 3-0 against the Bulldogs.

“[Duncan] was a walk-on for the Harvard team and fourth in [today’s] sabre event,” Brand said. “He even managed to defeat both the gold medal reigning NCAA champion and the silver medal winner. It was quite an accomplishment for him.”

The Crimson kept up the momentum against No. 5 Princeton, defeating the Tigers 18-9 on the backs of the sabre fencers’ 7-2 record for the match. The same three sabre fencers–O’Brien, senior Eric Arzoain, and junior Alexander Ryjik–went 8-1 against the Penn in the 19-8 victory over the Quakers.

On day two, Harvard stared down a Columbia team looking to avenge its 15-12 defeat at the hands of Crimson at last year’s Ivy League Round Robins. The groups began with the Lions taking the sabre portion of the match, 6-3, and Harvard bouncing back to win foil, 6-3.

But Columbia’s épéeists were not going to allow a repeat of the 2013 championship. Down 13-12 after Eldeib’s win over the Lions’ Justin Wan, Columbia won the final two épée bouts to take down the Crimson’s épée trio, 5-4, for the 14-13 win.

Though Harvard bounced back with a 17-10 triumph over Brown, the Crimson left their final position in the hands of the Tigers, who were facing then-unbeaten Columbia on different strips.

Upset-minded Princeton went up 10-8 with 5-4 wins in the sabre and foil parts of the match. Though the Lions won épée, 5-4, the final scorecard read 14-13 in favor of the Tigers, and Harvard clinched a share of the title. Chang, Ryjik and Woo were named to first-team All-Ivy, and O’Brien and Eldeib earned second-team accolades.

WOMEN'S FENCING

Led by Jarocki’s 18-0 record for the weekend, the Harvard sabre squad didn’t drop any of its six matches. But the team’s 15-12 loss to the Tigers in the second match of the round-robin tournament ultimately kept the Crimson from its first league title since 2009.

“We came really close against Princeton, and unfortunately, things didn’t work out,” freshman foilist Liana Yamin said. “But I think we did everything we could have.”

While Harvard was busy beating Brown, 20-7, in its final match of the day, Princeton and Columbia paired off in a match that had title implications. After the Crimson men had rooted for the Tigers to beat Columbia the same day, the tables were turned, with the Harvard women hoping the Lions would somehow beat the defending Ivy champs.

“We were fencing right on the side [of the other match], so we didn’t watch,” Yamin said. “We were focusing more on our own fencing and keeping down ground instead of if Columbia beats [Princeton].... We were more about how we can fence and turn it around.”

But a second upset in favor of the Crimson wasn’t in the cards on Sunday afternoon, and the Tigers went on to clinch Ivy League title with a 6-0 record for the weekend.

“Coming in second was a great accomplishment for our women,” Brand said. “Overall, I’m very happy with what we’ve accomplished. Certainly, we thought we had a shot on the women’s side this year—we came close, but I’m very, very happy with the result.”

With a 5-1 finish, Harvard finished alone in second place in 2014 after taking third the previous season. The women also brought multiple individual awards back to Cambridge, with Jarocki leading the way as the Outstanding Rookie Performer, Outstanding Performer, and first-team all-Ivy honors.

“She’s just a freshman and still has so much more time to do all she can do [with] NCAA’s coming up,” Yamin said. “I’m very proud of her as a teammate–she came in as a really good fencing and proved that this weekend.”

Sophomore Aliya Itzkowitz’s 15-3 record in sabre earned her first-team honors, while captains Kara Lee and Alexandra Kiefer, sophomore Isabella DiTella, and junior Emma Vaggo were named to the second-team.

—Staff writer Caleb Lee can be reached at caleblee@college.harvard.edu.