The Drew men's and women's fencing teams opened their seasons with an individual tournament and the dual meets curtain raised at Haverford College. The men's team reaffirmed it position at the top of the Middle Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association with a perfect 5-0 performance at Haverford while the women's team posted a 3-1 record at their meet.
The season began with the Temple University Open, one of the two individual tournaments designed for east coast fencers. The tournament drew a select field with participants from NYU, University of North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, Haverford, Cornell and #1 Penn State. A grueling setup required the fencers to advance through a pair of seeding pools and then six elimination bouts to reach the finals, a Top 8 tournament. Even with the difficult schedule, the Rangers did very well. Two sabreurs reached the finals, sophomore Alicia Rapp on the women's side and freshman Sam Varon on the men's side. Varon finished seventh overall in his first competition as a collegiate athlete. Five more Rangers finished in the Top 20. Carlin MacNichol took 15th out of 75 in women's sabre and Amy Lester took 18th of 94 in women's foil. Three other men cracked the Top 20 led by Joren Madsen who placed just outside of the finals in 9th of 91 in men's foil. Didrik Etholm placed 14 in foil and Alex VanDenBerg looks to continue Drew's tradition in epee with a 19th place finish in his first tournament.
For complete results click here.
At the first dual meets day of the season, the men went 5-0 in a MACFA meet including an impressive win over newcomers, and Top 20 ranked, North Carolina. Wins over Virginia Tech, Maryland, St. John's College and Virginia rounded out the sweep. The women's team went 3-1 while defeating Virginia, Virginia Tech and Maryland while losing only to UNC-Chapel Hill.
