Columbia fencing's quest toward a national title begins this Sunday at the NCAA Northeast Regionals as the Lions attempt to qualify a total of 12 fencers in six weapons.
"Our goal is to qualify the maximum number of 12 this weekend," head coach George Kolombatovich said. "In some weapons we might actually qualify three, and I will be forced to make a decision. It is always a really tough decision, but it is one that I want to have to make."
The Lions will send 18 fencers, three in each of the six weapons, in an attempt to qualify two in each discipline for the NCAA Championships that begin on March 22. The formula for Nationals qualification has Northeast Regionals accounting for 60 percent of the total qualification points, with the other 40 percent coming from collegiate matches fought in the past two months. Given that Columbia has faced the toughest schedule of any team in the nation, its strength of schedule will have a significant effect in determining the team's final placement.
Twenty-four fencers out of the four regions will become eligible for nationals, with two at-large spots also up for grabs. Each region gets a certain number of qualifiers based on the strength of the schools and fencers in the respective region. This season, the northeast will see men's epee receive seven spots and every other discipline taking eight.
"I think we all believe that we have the depth and the people to qualify 12 for nationals," Kolombatovich added. "Mental training really begins to play an effect here with all the pressure on each fencer, but I know how hard we have trained, and I am confident in saying we will get 12."
Columbia boasts two of the number-one seeds in the region in sophomore men's epeeist Dwight Smith and freshman women's epeeist Tess Finkel. In addition, senior men's sabrist James Williams, junior women's sabrist Emily Jacobson, and senior men's foilist Scott Sugimoto will lead the Lions in their respective disciplines.
More pressing for Columbia is the need to fight through injuries that have sidelined some fencers in recent weeks. Despite being the number-one seed in the region, Finkel comes into this weekend with a wrist injury that Kolombatovich considers the worst of the team's health problems. Fellow women's epeeist senior Alexie Rubin is close to full strength after sitting out last weekend's IFA Championships with a hamstring injury that has been progressively healing over the past two weeks and is close to full strength. Senior men's sabrist Alex Krul is battling a thumb injury sustained at the Ivy Championships, while last season's national bronze medalist Jacobson is contending with an ankle injury.
"Obviously, injuries have an effect on the team and their [the fencers'] ability to perform," Kolombatovich said. "Any athlete will tell you, though, that in competition, little nagging injuries tend to disappear when you are concentrating and your adrenaline is up. By this weekend, I think these injuries will not have much of an impact on our ability to compete at the level we are accustomed to."
With the men's victory at IFAs last Saturday and the women coming off an undefeated team season, the Lions know they are the team to beat as they transition to the more individualized style of competition that will be taking place this weekend at Tufts. Each fencer has a seeding factor that will determine his or her placement in his or her respective brackets, and while the fencers are competing for Columbia, the goal is for each individual to make a deep run to ensure Nationals qualification.
"We know that for us to have any chance to do what we want at Nationals, we are going to need 12 fencers," Kolombatovich said. "If we could just do it on paper, we wouldn't even have to compete, but there are so many things that can happen. We have tremendous athletes here, and I'm confident we will do what we set out to."