After completing its Ivy campaign, the Columbia fencing team will travel to Harvard this Saturday to compete in the nation’s oldest collegiate athletic competition, the Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championships.
Unlike other college competitions, the IFA Championships do not count towards NCAA Championships qualification, meaning that fencers who would not otherwise compete regularly for the Lions will get the chance to make appearances.
“In many ways this competition highlights the depth of a team,” head coach George Kolombatovich said. “For some people, this is a chance to show that they are really good, and it’s a strong opportunity for others who have been traveling with us being substitutes to be part of the big team.”
The Light Blue is maintaining its focus on next weekend’s NCAA Northeast Regionals, where many of Columbia’s fencers will try to qualify for the NCAA Championships, held at Penn State in March. As a result, the Lions are taking extra precautions with some of the team’s injured starters.
“Max [Czapanskiy] only had to fence three bouts last week, and he is doing all right and his leg is doing extremely well,” Kolombatovich said. “Alex [Rudnicki] is still bothered a little bit and he’ll fence this weekend, but probably not that much. Daria [Schneider] will not be competing this weekend because we’re going to make sure she’s 100 percent for regionals.”
This weekend presents an opportunity for many of the team’s freshman to contribute in a productive manner to the team and gain experience against a large number of the Northeast’s best fencers.
“The one thing is that this is a different structured kind of a meet, and it will be interesting how some of the first-years take to it,” Kolombatovich said. “They’ve been great this year and they really enjoy the team aspect. Only a few have competed in a team format so this will be a great opportunity.”
In the IFA Championships, fencers are ranked in the A, B, or C categories and compete only against other fencers with the same designations. Each bout is worth one point for the team, and the team with the highest total overall takes the title. Should fencers score enough individual points, they will be seeded into a knockout-style individual competition in which they will compete for medals.
The IFA Championships get underway this Saturday at Harvard University.