Fencers Have Chance to be NCAA Champs

For the second season in a row, the Columbia fencing team has the chance to bring a national title to Morningside Heights, as 12 fencers take to the strips at the NCAA Championships this weekend in Columbus, Ohio.

Last year, the Lions led the NCAA Championships after the men’s competition, but the women could not sustain the lead, and the Light Blue finished in third place overall. This year, fencing begins on Thursday with the women’s portion of the competition, while the men start their half on Saturday. This time, it will be the job of the women to create momentum heading into weekend competition. The fact that the team has another shot at a national title has not escaped the squad, even to those who will be making their first appearance at nationals.

“We were excited when we qualified 12 last year, and we knew we had a shot,” junior epeeist Lorenzo Casertano said. “This year we also qualified 12, but the pressure isn’t nearly as high. We definitely have a shot at it, and we are extremely excited for the opportunity.”

At the NCAA Regionals two weekends ago, the Lions qualified the maximum number of 12 fencers for nationals—two in each of the six disciplines—and attaining that number was a crucial task for Columbia.

“If you don’t have the qualifiers, your result just won’t be good, period,” head coach George Kolombatovich said at the time. “It really is impossible without 10, so with 12, we have the opportunity and that’s all we could have asked for.”

Of the 12 fencers who qualified, only three—sophomores Tess Finkel and Kurt Getz and senior Emily Jacobson—are members of the team that also sent 12 last season. Joining Casertano in men’s epee will be sophomore Brent Kelly, while in men’s foil, last year’s bronze medalist, Getz, returns for the Lions alongside junior Sherif Farrag, who makes his first appearance at nationals. In men’s sabre, sophomore Jeff Spear and senior Alex Diacou have the difficult task of stepping into the shoes of two of the most accomplished sabre fencers in Columbia’s history—James Williams and Alex Krul.

For the women, Finkel will be competing in epee with junior Oriana Isaacson. In foil, northeast regional gold medalist and freshman Nicole Ross will be joined by fellow freshman Abby Caparros-Janto. The Lions’ strongest discipline is women’s sabre, as the sister duo of Emily and Jackie Jacobson are not only the number-one and number-two seeds coming out of NCAA Regionals, but also took the top two seeds in the nation.

Seven of the 12 fencers heading to Ohio State are underclassmen, a sign that the team’s new recruits have combined well with the depth of last year’s squad to ensure the Lions will maintain the chance at bringing home a national championship.

“For a lot of the freshmen that came in, we already knew each other from training with each other in New York City, so that made things easier to unify as a team,” Casertano said. “The guys are going early to cheer on the girls, and the girls are going to stay the entire weekend and root for the guys. We definitely feel like a team out there.”

Unlike the 2007 team, this year’s group will not carry the same amount of pressure due to having so many new faces competing on the strips.

“The psychological thing is big in fencing,” Casertano added. “Last year, we kept thinking ‘this is our year,’ and that isn’t the case this time around. We have a good, legitimate shot and I know when I fence, I’m going to be more relaxed.”

With no major injuries hampering the team, Columbia has a chance to win its first title since the 1992-93 season, and the first since the NCAA expanded the field to include women.