CU Fencing Sends 12 to Nationals

Twelve is the Columbia fencing team's lucky number.

During spring break, the maximum of 12 fencers from Columbia qualified for the NCAA Championships, putting the team in a prime position to contend for the national title this Sunday. Only two other teams, St. John's and Penn State, matched the Lions' number of qualifying fencers.

"What this means is that we have a chance," Columbia head coach George Kolombatovich said. "Once you get there [NCAA Championships], seedings don't really matter. We certainly have a team that can do some wonderful things out there, and now we have to actually go out and do it."

Columbia sent its top 18 fencers to Tufts University two weekends ago to compete at the NCAA Regionals against the best the Northeast had to offer. Although the Lions can only send 12 to Nationals by NCAA rule, Columbia actually qualified 15 fencers in the six disciplines, tying for the most by any school in the country with Penn State.

Leading the way for the Lions were seniors Scott Sugimoto and Alex Krul in men's foil and sabre, respectively, as they took first place in their respective weapons at Regionals. Fellow senior and sabrist James Williams and freshman foilist Kurt Getz both placed in the top five at the event, and will be making the trip to Madison, NJ this weekend. Sophomore foilist Sherif Farrag and freshman sabrist Jeff Spear also qualified, but will not attend because of the NCAA limit.

In men's epee, the Lions qualified two sophomores in Dwight Smith and Max Czapanskiy, with freshman Brent Kelly finishing his first campaign in 10th place.

On the women's side, Columbia will see freshman Tess Finkel and senior Alexie Rubin compete in epee after Finkel, the number one seed in the region, finished in fifth with Rubin placing in 10th. In sabre, the Lions will send junior Emily Jacobson and sophomore Daria Schneider to Nationals while junior co-captain Dani Gordet, despite qualification, will stay in Morningside Heights. Seniors Kathleen Reckling and Cassidy Luitjen will compete in foil for Columbia, rounding out the women's six qualifiers.

"Lao Tzu said that 'A journey of a thousand miles doesn't begin until you contemplate the first step,'" Kolombatovich added. "We've made all the steps that we have had to so far and there has never been a time when we weren't capable of winning this year. The fact is this team has always talked about winning, since the beginning of the year. We have had a great season so far and we are hoping that one week from now, we'll have some stuff to smile about."