Williams and Zouein to represent fencing team at Nationals

This past weekend, the women's fencing team proved to any final doubters that they belong not only among the elite in New England, but also the entire country. Nine Tufts fencers had been selected to participate in the Regionals last weekend at New York University, and in the end, two fencers, senior Kasara Williams and freshman Katherine Zouein, had qualified to fence in the National Championships.

Despite having taken second place at the last two post-season tournaments, there was still some uncertainty about whether the Jumbos could compete successfully against top teams from the Northeast. Those doubts were put to rest this weekend as the team continued to perform at star quality.

With teams coming from all over the East coast, including powerhouses like Saint John's and Columbia University, the women had to compete at their highest level of intensity. The entire team was able to do this and produce fine results, but the highlights of the tournament were the two sabrists, Williams and Zouein, whose performances will pit them against the nation's elite at the Air Force Academy during Spring Break.

While the two fencers came out victorious in the end, they admitted that it was a struggle throughout the contests.

"[The regional tournament] is a very challenging meet because all the fencers are good," Williams said. "In other meets there are different levels so you can adjust between levels and exert your energy accordingly, but at regionals every bout is a battle."

These two teammates have been the leaders of the squad for much of the season and many believed that they had a shot at nationals before the season even began. Originally, the team's goals were to have one fencer compete in nationals. Now with two going, the team feels proud to consider itself among the nation's best programs, and the two national tournament-bound fencers are looking forward to the opportunity ahead.

"Now that I am off to Nationals, I know that the level of fencing will be even higher," Williams said. "I can't help but be happy I have gotten this opportunity to fence with the best women in the country. I can't wait to see what I can learn from them."

While earlier tournaments this year were mostly scored based on team performance, the regional tournament was a completely individual tournament. Nine fencers from the team were sent to New York for the highly competitive event. The participants included three epees (senior Frances Harper, sophomore Talia Alexander, and freshman Sasha Brodski), three sabrists (senior Kasara Williams, senior Mika Mutoh, and freshman Katherine Zouein), and three foil fencers (junior Christina Zahara, sophomore Zinger Yang, and freshman Julia Shih).

Along with the achievements of Williams and Zouein, the rest of the team put together a very successful weekend. All three types of weapons categories had over 60 participants from around the Northeast, but Tufts was able to place well more than half of their nine members in the top 30, a very significant accomplishment.

The Jumbos exemplified how hard work throughout the season can finally pay off with huge dividends in the end.

"This year we saw a group of really committed and talented girls come together on this team," Zahara said. "We owe a lot of our success to the passion each of us has for this sport and becoming better athletes."

A great balance between senior leadership and star underclassmen also helped result in an extremely positive season.

"We have a lot of seniors this year with a lot of experience," Harper said. "And we also have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who fenced in high school."

The National Fencing Tournament is set to take place at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Mar. 19-23. It will be held in a round-robin fashion meaning that everyone fences at least for the first two days of the competition.