Like much of the student body, freshman Christine Lee did indeed head south for spring break. Her vacation, however, was strictly business.
Lee traveled to Houston, Texas to compete in the NCAA Fencing Nationals, where she finished 22nd in a field of 24 with five total victories and 43 touches scored.
Lee spent much of the season as Tufts' top foil fencer, and she qualified for the national competition with an outstanding performance in the NCAA Fencing Northeast Regional Championships on Mar. 5. At Regionals, Lee stumbled out of the gate, but she rebounded to finish 11th and earn the final spot to Nationals.
Just as she had at Regionals, Lee again started slowly at the national competition, winning only two bouts the first day of the competition. She described the field as the toughest she had ever encountered.
"It was just intimidating because a ton of fencers were from Div.I schools," Lee said. "I had an awesome time fencing all these amazing fencers."
Adhering to the pattern she set for herself at Regionals, Lee improved on the second day, winning more matches. The highlight of her day came in the form of an upset over senior Chloe Stinetorf, one of Harvard's best fencers, to whom Lee lost during the Harvard-Tufts dual meet on Nov. 30. Tied at 4-4, the bout went to overtime and Lee pulled out ahead. The win dropped Stinetorf down in the final standings.
"In overtime I was trying to take it slow, and continue doing what had been working earlier in the match," Lee said. "She [Stinetorf] had great defense, so I couldn't really attack her. I found that it worked to be defensive, to just step back and parry when she attacked."
Harvard won the Nationals team competition, finishing the four-day event with 165 total victories, edging out nine-time champion Penn State. Lee's individual efforts gave Tufts five total points, which tied the team for 26th in the field of 29.
An event on the second day of the tournament spoke to the high level of competition at the national event. Two fencers collided and one sustained a concussion, forcing the injured competitor to drop out of the remainder of the tournament.
The tournament ran smoothly, despite being held in a small function room of the JW Marriot Hotel in Houston. Lee came into the tournament expecting to fence only one or two high-profile athletes, but the competition featured an incredible number of Div. I fencers.
"When we weren't competing, meeting fencers from all over was awesome and it was great knowing you made friends for next year," said Lee. "It's funny, because you never see these people outside of fencing, but then you end up playing PS2 all night with them."
Lee held realistic expectations heading into the Nationals meet
"The meet had the top college fencers from around the country," Lee said. "I wasn't really expecting to do that well. My performance wasn't outstanding, but it was for the experience, and I'm glad I went."
The National foil competition featured 24 athletes who fenced in a round-robin format to determine the top eight, who then competed for the final standings. Lee failed to qualify for the final rounds, and watched the remainder of the competition from the sidelines, a good learning experience, as the top eight featured top-notch Div. I fencers.
"When you watch other fencers, you notice who has good technique," Lee said. "Say they keep a really good distance from their opponent during a bout, you can try and take that and imitate it."
Tufts had sent eight fencers to the regional competition: Lee, seniors Katherine Zouein and captain Julia Shih, juniors Donna Au and Louisa May Zouein, and sophomores Jamie Kraut, Katherine Zeis and Diana Barger. Lee was the only one to qualify for Nationals.
Tufts went into Regionals, the last meet of the season, with extra motivation to succeed.
"Since [Regionals] was the last meet of the season, I think that made everyone try a little harder and it showed," Lee said.
The Jumbos fenced well, and all Tufts fencers finished higher than their ranking going into the match. In one match, Kraut, a foil fencer, adjusted to her opponent's style and came from behind to win. Zouein's sabre match came down to the final bout, which she dropped 15-14 to sixth-seeded Yale senior Carly Guss, and she missed qualifying to Nationals by two spots. The younger Zouein finished 14th in the sabre, and Kraut rounded out the four top-20 Tufts finishers, taking 19th.
After Lee lost her first bout, she assumed she would not qualify for the final competition, but soon realized she still had a shot and ended up finishing 11th, earning the last regional spot to Nationals.
Only eight fencers at the Regional meet are given bids to Nationals. Although Lee finished outside the top eight, each school can only qualify two fencers. If a school qualifies more than two athletes, the extra qualifiers do not go, and the bids are awarded to the next-best competitors from other schools.
Lee's appearance at Nationals capped a solid year for the Tufts fencers. The team took second place at the New England's, third at NIWFA's, a first place for the sabre team, and a second for the foil team. It also had champions in the New Englands and the NIWFA's and Lee's qualification for Nationals.
The team fared far better this season against opponents who had dismantled the Jumbos offensive in the past.
"We had a really fantastic season," Judith Shih said. "We beat MIT this year, which is a huge accomplishment. We've always gotten really close to them, but never beaten them in the past."
Coach Jason Sachs echoed Shih's sentiments.
"It was a great season and a lot of fun to coach," he said. "This certainly ranks as one of our best years and personally one of my most enjoyable."
