It was no walk in the park for the Jumbo fencing squad last week.
After competing against Div. I Harvard on Wednesday night, the team trekked all the way to Newark, N.J., this past weekend for the NIWFA Christmas Invitational, a 14-team competition hosted by the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The Invitational was a successful one for the Jumbos who turned in five top-15 finishes. Led by senior sabre captain Louisa Zouein, the team placed second out of a pool of 43 sabre fencers.
"Louisa fenced extremely well," coach Jason Sachs said. "She beat all of the Temple fencers, and she's really beginning to blossom."
Freshmen Lisa Yanushefsky, Emily Maretsky and Naomi Bryant joined sophomore Lisa Granshaw on the foil squad which turned in a great performance despite the absence of sophomore captain Christine Lee. Granshaw led the Jumbo foils, coming in 10th out of 40, followed by Maretsky and Bryant, both of whom also finished in the top 20.
The meet was an especially important one for an epee squad whose upperclassmen have been recently plagued by injuries. Sophomores Amanda McDavid, suffering from knee problems, and captain Tracy Mayfield, dealing with chronic Achilles tendonitis, still competed and fenced well.
"I was in some pain, but it felt good to get through a meet and it was an excellent day for the epee team," said Mayfield, who came in 11th out of 48.
Freshmen Amani Smathers and Rebecca Hughes, who have been anchors for the epee squad this season, also notched standout performances, finishing ninth and 11th, respectively.
"Amani and I have both been fencing for five years, so it's not too overwhelming," Hughes said. "We're used to competing. It's nice to be able to get experience and be thrown into that environment early on. We're all training hard, so its really worth it and its fun."
Despite an unusual format to the tournament, the team met a lot of success in New Jersey.
"The format [over the weekend] was different because it was all pool format," Granshaw said. "It definitely took longer, and it's harder to weed out people. They only take out a certain percent of people each round. In a way though, I like it better because you get to fence a lot more since there are no direct elimination bouts. You get more experience and you get to see more people."
Though the increased amount of bouts, combined with the travel, made for a tiring weekend, the trip included many positives for the Jumbo squad.
"I think it was a really good bonding experience between the upperclassmen and the freshmen," Mayfield said. "It became even more clear how fantastic our freshmen are and how much they will help our team in the future. They're really positive and fun people."
Tufts started off the week's competition by fencing Div. I Harvard in a meet where the overmatched Jumbos placed their focus on gaining experience against a highly skilled Div. I team rather than winning. Still, the team emerged with small victories.
"Any wins we get against them are great," Zouein said. "Christine won a bout, and Amani won two. Amani did a great job. We're really proud of her."
"I think that any experience is helpful," Hughes added. "The only way to get better is to fence - especially at meets like Harvard where the fencers are really skilled. It's good to see that kind of fencing and to see how you respond in those sorts of athletic situations."
Though the NIWFA Christmas Invitational was the last meet of the semester for the Jumbos, they are already looking ahead to what they hope will be a strong start to second semester.
"I am very proud of this team," Sachs said. "They are coming along great. By the end of the year, I think we will have a good shot at winning New Englands."
