Nine Fencers Finish Among Top-20 in Individual Divisions Nationally, Jarocki Fails to Defend Title

Sophomore fencer Adrienne Jarocki advanced quickly down the strip with her feet, cocking her saber back as she prepared to lunge at Notre Dame freshman Francesca Russo. But before the she could compete her motion, Russo attacked Jarocki in preparation. After scoring the touch, Russo raised her arms in celebration as Jarocki pulled her mask off and walked off the strip in disappointment.

The final touch by Russo, which clinched an 15-12 elimination round victory, ensured that there would be no repeat NCAA individual championship for the Crimson sophomore. Despite finishing the grueling 23-bout pool play round with 20 wins to earn the top seed, Jarocki would have to wait another year for another shot at an NCAA championship.

“I’m not too happy with this result,” Jarocki said. “Next year I’m going to be a little bit more hungry to repeat what I did freshman year.”

Earlier on the weekend on the men’s side, Harvard freshman Eli Dershwitz also saw his bid for an individual saber title end in the semifinals. After being on the receiving end of what Crimson coach Peter Brand described as “not good” refereeing, Dershwitz fell behind early against fourth-seeded Ferenc Valkai of St. John’s and eventually lost the bout, 15-10.

“I think there were a few things that I didn’t agree with, and instead of just focusing and channeling my disagreement, I really let my emotions get the best of me,” Dershwitz said. “For the last few touches of the bout, I wasn’t entirely there mentally, and I made a few mistakes.”

Besides the two semifinal finishers, Harvard sent eight other Crimson fencers to the NCAA individual championships.

“Considering that we had 10 [fencers] altogether, and we finished up seventh...it’s pretty good, [also] considering that we had 11 last year and finished up sixth,” Brand said.

WOMEN’S FENCING

Throughout her semifinal bout with Russo, Jarocki had a tough time finishing her attacks.

“The operative word here is that she was tentative, she was a little concerned with her opponent’s counter actions, and as a result, her actions came up short and weak,” Brand said. “She kept fearing the contact and as a result, her attacks were ineffective.”

A nearly simultaneous action that set both green and red lights off was awarded to Russo to give the Notre Dame fencer the 8-5 lead as the first three-minute period came to a close. Jarocki and Brand talked things over in a timeout, and coming out of the break, the Harvard sophomore scored the next touch after getting pushed down her side of the strip.

However, Jarocki was not able to overtake her opponent, and after she drew within one, Russo scored the final two touches of the bout for the 15-12 victory.

“[Russo] was just fencing very well, and I was making the wrong decisions at times,” Jarocki said. “I was a little hesitant to attack because she kept getting me in preparation, and so I was scared to accelerate.”

In the opening round of the championships, Jarocki laid claim to the first seed with a 20-3 record and a plus-51 indicator.

“Overall, Adrienne had two great days, and she had the most wins out of everybody,” Brand said. “She should have won—that was the expectation—but again, the pressure was quite intense to repeat.”

Outside of Jarocki, no other Crimson women qualified for the final four of an individual weapon—but senior epéeist Emma Vaggo came close. Sporting a plus-11 indicator and a 14-9 record in pool play, Vaggo was just one win away from earning the fourth and final spot in the next round. Additionally, Vaggo beat eventual championship winner Isis Washington in the five-touch bout first round.

“I’m also very happy for senior Emily Vaggo, who had her highest finish ever coming in sixth, and very close to making the final four,” Brand said.

Notably missing from the final four in the women’s saber competition was Crimson junior Aliya Itzkowitz, who lost to Jarocki in the 2014 final. Despite a positive indicator, Itzkowitz’s 12-11 record in pool play left her out of the final elimination bouts. She finished in 11th place.

On the foil side, two Harvard women fenced in their first NCAA championships. Sophomore Hali Nelson was the Crimson’s highest finisher in the event at 16th, while freshman MacKenzie Lawrence ended her weekend 20th.

MEN’S FENCING

After taking seventh with a 16-7 record at the NCAA Northeast Regional to qualify for the championships, Dershwitz wasted little time in establishing himself as one of the top college saber fencers by earning 22 victories in the pool play round, which was tops for all weapons, both men’s and women’s.

“I started off my first day 7-0, which really set the tone for the second day,” Dershwitz said. “I came into the finals with a good mindset and thinking that I could definitely [win] it because the guy I fenced I [had beaten] earlier.”

However, Dershwitz ran into trouble against the fourth-seeded Valkai, and fell by a 15-11 score.

“I think Eli is a very mature person...I saw him lose his cool, and to some extent it was justified—the refereeing was not good,” Brand said. “He got some bad breaks there, and I think the problem [was] that it got to him…. He started rushing and that was the end.”

Despite the loss, Dershwitz will have many more opportunities to prove himself, both in college and outside of Harvard.

“He’s going to have a great career and moving forward, he’s going to try out for the Olympic team,” Brand said. “I think he has a really good chance of making [the US team].”

Four other Crimson men also competed in the event, with the foil pair of junior Jerry Chang and co-captain Brian Kaneshige finishing in sixth and 10th, respectively. Chang came close to qualifying for the final round, needing just one more win and a slightly better indicator to have made the cut.

Also fencing in the same pool as Dershwitz, junior co-captain Duncan O’Brien finished his season with a 19th place finish. Rounding out the group of five Crimson men in competition, junior Nicolas Simko had nine pool bout wins but a minus-20 indicator.

“[It] is just an extremely long tournament and extremely intense,” Simko said. “Overall it’s going to be great, great knowledge for me next year to come back.”

—Staff writer Caleb Y. Lee can be reached at caleb.lee@thecrimson.com.