Fencing

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Columbia fencing program, but the Lions surpassed all expectations by running away with the Ivy League championship and a strong third-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

In five seconds, the average human being will blink once or twice, take one full breath, and experience roughly one beat of his heart.

In nearly every way, the 2008 NCAA fencing championship was déjà vu for the Columbia Lions fencing team. The Light Blue captured third place overall, behind national champion Ohio State and runner-up Notre Dame, bolstered by Jeff Spear’s individual sabre national championship and bronze-medal performances from Kurt Getz, Emily Jacobson, and Nicole Ross. Columbia’s third-place finish matched the best in the program’s history—set last year—since the expansion to six disciplines.

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.

The Columbia fencing team did all it was asked to do and more on Sunday at the NCAA Northeast Regionals. The Lions put on another impressive performance against the best the Northeast could offer, qualifying the maximum possible number of 12 fencers for the NCAA Championships, with four more members of the Light Blue making institutional alternate status.

With the end of the season rapidly approaching, the Columbia fencing team knows it only has two opportunities left to prove itself as the Lions fight for a possible national championship. Sunday’s NCAA Northeast Regional at Vassar is the next step for the Light Blue as it attempts to qualify the maximum number of 12 fencers for next month’s NCAA Championships at Ohio State.

Four fencers on the Columbia team took home individual medals at Sunday’s IFA Championships, which were held at Levien Gymnasium.

While Columbia did not sweep every weapon category at Sunday’s Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championships, the Light Blue walked away with the most important trophies of the competition. The six-weapon title—given to the school with the highest number of victories from the men’s and women’s competitions combined—landed in the Lions’ hands, along with the men’s team championship, women’s foil title, and men’s foil trophies.

Riding a combined 17-bout winning streak, the Columbia fencing team prepares to host the nation’s oldest collegiate fencing tournament, the Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championships.

Fresh off winning the Ivy League fencing title last weekend at Princeton, the Columbia fencing teams finished off its regular season schedule at home against Vassar, Sacred Heart, and New York University in Levien Gymnaisum yesterday.