Fencing Squads Battle 6 Opponents

The men’s and women’s fencing teams were busy this weekend as they faced six separate teams, but Harvard was boosted by some unexpected standout individual performances.

Both teams beat Sacred Heart by a score of 21-6 yesterday at the Malkin Athletic Center.

In dual-meet play, nine bouts are fought for each weapon—with three fencers in each weapon facing off in round-robin play—for a total of 27 bouts.

The men’s side won all three weapons, 7-2 in saber, 8-1 in foil, and 6-3 in epee. The women dominated Sacred Heart in saber, 8-1, and foil, 9-0, but lost epee, 4-5.

On Saturday, both teams faced off against five other schools at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.

The men beat Vassar, 19-8, UNC, 15-12, and Princeton, 16-11, but lost to NYU, 16-11, and defending national champion Penn State, 15-12.

The win over the Tigers was a significant victory despite not counting as Ivy League play.

Saber lost, 6-3, and foil narrowly won, 5-4, but epee came through with a convincing 8-1 victory over a Princeton squad with two men on the U.S. national team and one who placed third in the world.

The win avenged a 7-2 loss to the Tigers last season.

“Kudos goes to the epee men led by Karl Harmenberg, the most improved fencer on this squad,” coach Peter Brand said. “Also great performances by Billy Stallings and senior all-American Teddy Sherrill, who won all their matches this weekend.”

Brand and both men’s captains also singled out freshman Nick Culbertson for a standout performance this weekend.

Originally not expected to start this year, he was informed of his inclusion at the Princeton meet only a few hours before the event.

“I told him he had five hours to get good,” Brand said. “It was amazing what he did…He won some matches against some very good fencers, kept his composure—just things you don’t expect from inexperienced freshmen.”

“We’re definitely proud of the way he stepped it up,” junior co-captain Scott DiGiulio said. “He showed a lot of poise against some of the toughest college competition all year.”

The women’s team also had a very successful weekend, winning all six of its dual matches.

In addition to the victory against Sacred Heart, Harvard beat Temple, 15-12, UNC, 17-10, Vassar, 18-9, NYU, 17-10, and defending national champion Penn State, 14-13.

The victory against Penn State was perhaps the most significant, especially because the women had lost to them in their own 2006 championship season.

The match outcome was determined in the very last bout. With both teams tied at 13, sophomore Artemisha Goldfeder won her foil event, 5-0, to give Harvard the deciding edge.

The women’s epee squad, which has been depleted because some fencers are training for the Olympics, struggled over the weekend. The trio lost five of their six matches but held their own in most of them, with four matches being decided by a score of 5-4.

Junior captain Maria Larsson, who competes in epee, singled out junior Lisa Vastola for her performance over the weekend. Vastola used to be compete in foil but converted to epee to because of team needs.

“She’s improved amazingly and fences really well,” Larsson said. “Without that, we would not have been able to perform this well.”

“[Vastola] picked up an important win, though she has never really started for us,” Brand said. “I want to give her a lot of credit.”

Looking back on the weekend, Brand was pleased with the overall team performance but found the individual efforts of Culbertson and Vastola most compelling.

“They did something amazing for us this weekend,” he said. “You expect all these strong fencers, but their situations are the ones that really make me happy. Those two individuals are the ones that made me smile that day.”