Fencers shine at national championships

Fencing team members demonstrated their techniques at the Durfee Garden during Arbor Day festivities on April 25. In the foreground, junior Leo Cook (left) and freshman Emily Underwood duel, while graduate student Briana Fortenbach and freshman Jerry Trabucco face off behind them. (Stan Sherer photo)

fter months of competition against both varsity and club opposition, the fencing team capped its year with the men's and women's squads finishing as co-champions and runners-up respectively at the National Collegiate Club Fencing Championships held April 5-6 at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

     "I'm really proud of the entire team," said coach Brad Baker. "This is something which they have been working towards the entire season and to see it all come together so spectacularly is almost beyond description."

     The men share the title of national champions along with Northwestern University. The Minutemen led by a dominating performance from the first-place men's foil squad consisting of Matt Franco '04 (13-1), Leo Cook '04 (13-1), and Pat Reardon '04 (11-3). The men's epee and men's sabre squads each took silver.

     The women placed second overall, missing out on the top spot by only two bouts to host and overall champion Florida. The women were led by a strong, first-place performance in epee, featuring an experienced squad of Jessica Yu '04, Karla Hubschwerlin '03, and Cathie Arcisz '03.

     "The tremendous record of the weekend tells less than half the story of UMass' performance," said assistant coach Taro Yamashita. "There were, for sure, sparkling individual results, but there was no mistaking this weekend for anything short of a team effort... I am very proud of this team, and I am honored to be part of it. This is exactly the kind of team that every coach hopes to experience at least once in their career."

     UMass was the top six-weapon team at the championships, which attracted 18 schools. UMass competed against Florida, Purdue, Wesleyan College, Michigan, Smith, Clemson, Texas, New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Army, South Carolina, Northwestern, Texas A&M, and Michigan State. The National Collegiate Club Championship is the top intercollegiate competition for non-varsity (NCAA) teams.

     Earlier this year, UMass was named the top club team for men and women at the New England Fencing Championships. The team finished the regular season with dual meet records of 11-9 for the men, and 16-9 for the women, posting victories over a number of varsity programs including Wellesley, Brown, Sacred Heart, Drew University and Fairleigh Dickinson.

     UMass Fencing is a registered student organization that traces its roots on campus back to 1875. The team competes at both club and varsity level against schools from all over New England in any number of leagues, including the Northeast Fencing Conference, New England Collegiate Club Fencing League, New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference and the New England Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association. Members of the team also represent the University in United States Fencing Association (USFA) competitions at the local, regional, and national level.