Junior foilist Christine McIntosh earned a gold medal in foil at the 33rd Annual Temple Fencing Open in Philadelphia, Pa. The two-day individual collegiate meet is the largest of its kind, with more than 30 universities and 600 competitors.
“It was a historic showing. It was the first time in the history of Cornell that we won so many medals. I am very pleased with our senior fencers. We got the record number of medals,” said assistant head coach Oleg Brusilovsky. “I am really impressed with the team spirit and how the fencers supported each other. It was very competitive and I hope that the momentum continues into next tournament.”
McIntosh’s win put her in first place out of 81 competitors. Freshman foilist Ediona Sera came in third, freshman foilist Angelica Gangemi placed fifth, sophomore foilist Allison Berdichevsky took 10th and sophomore Alexis Mandon finished out the group with a 32nd place finish.
“The foil squad did really well. We had everyone finish in the Top-32. We had two girls in the Top-8. Ediona finished in third, Angelica finished fifth and I took gold,” McIntosh said. “It was a really exciting day for foil. I think it says a lot of great things about how our season is going to go this year.”
In the epee competition, the Red grabbed three Top-6 finishes among 76 competitors. Epee senior Maria Napolitano tied for third place in the meet. Sophomore Olivia Weller took fifth, while sophomore Khelsi Clarke grabbed sixth. Freshman Ashley Muller finished 20th and freshman Taylor Wong grabbed 31st.
“We did really well overall. I know that epee had three people in the finals. Christie won her foil event and we had two other foilists in the finals. We also had two sabers in the finals,” said Weller. “Overall, as a team, we had eight of the 15 girls we took placed in the finals in some variation, so it was a really good tournament. It was a really good turnout. It was our first team event so it was the perfect season opener.”
For the sabreists, seniors Audrey Speer and Beverly Yang tied for third among the 78 fencers in their event. Freshman Alaina Uhouse came in 28th, senior McKellen Rattray placed 29th and sophomore Kristen Holl took 53rd.
“We had probably one of the most successful sabre squad finishes ever,” Yang said. “This was the first year that all five of our girls made it past the preliminary rounds which is huge for us. We had four girls in the Top-32.”
This past weekend, the Red traveled to the Sacred Heart Invitational on Sunday at the Pitt Center. The team faced off against Fairleigh Dickinson, Haverford, Hunter College, Sacred Heart, Stevens, Tufts, Vassar and Wellesley. Last year, the Red achieved a perfect 6-0 mark for the day and won 130 out of 164 individual rounds. Cornell has faced each team previously at least six times in dual meet competition and has posted a winning record against all eight squads (70-12 all-time against the eight schools).
“[This season] we have one tournament at Sacred Heart. We have another one at Brandeis on December 2,” McIntosh said. “Then we are off for break for a while and come back a bit early for training camp. Then we go straight to Pennsylvania at the beginning of next semester. Between the three tournaments this semester we have a lot to look forward to.”
Original Author: Haley Velasco