Despite coming off of their first break from weekend competition this semester, the Jumbo fencers showed no signs of rust at Saturday's New England Championships held at MIT.
Led by senior sabre captain Louisa May Zouein, who took the top spot in the individual sabre competition, the Jumbos turned in an all-around solid performance to capture fourth place out of thirteen teams at the meet.
Zouein, whose first-place title was the second of her Tufts career, has only taken second at New England Championships to her sister, Katherine Zouein (LA '06) who was the top sabre in Louisa May Zouein's freshman year. Such success gave the sisters a combined winning streak of five consecutive years.
After sealing her victory, Zouein received news of plans to honor the sisters' dominance of the sabre field.
"We've won the event for the past five years, so they're creating a Zouein trophy," Zouein said. "We'll get to decide who they give it to every year. It's really exciting, and I don't know who I'm going to give it to - we get to decide what it's based on."
Sophomore foil captain Christine Lee also advanced to the final round in individual competition. A top contender, Lee sustained an injury that hampered her play and landed her in the sixth-place spot.
"Christine got hit in the hand on one of her fingers," Zouein said. "When she got to the final round of the individual competition, she couldn't really hold her weapon, so that was bad. She could have done so much better, but it's okay, she still made it to the top six."
Joined by sophomore Lisa Granshaw, who also advanced into individual competition, Lee led the foil squad to an exceptional third-place finish overall, placing only behind powerhouses Brandeis and MIT.
"Women's foil was our only weapon team that placed, and that was really awesome for them," sophomore epee captain Tracy Mayfield said. "Their three-person team consisted of two sophomores and a freshman, and both Christine and Lisa advanced to the individual rounds. It was impressive to send two out of three to the third round. Overall, they had a great day as a team, all turning in individually strong performances."
Freshman Naomi Bryant, who is also a Daily editor, rounded out the foil squad, winning eight of her twelve bouts against some highly skilled opponents.
"Naomi was fencing really well, especially against some of the tougher schools like Brandeis," Lee said in an e-mail to the Daily.
"The competition was really good, and we've learned how to work as a team really well," Bryant said. "I think having fenced Harvard, [which] has a much better fencing program, helps. It's hard to lose to schools like that, but I think it really does help us improve our fencing."
Having battled injuries and illness for much of the season, the epee squad also had a successful day, as it beat MIT on its way to a sixth-place finish overall.
"We've been a solid team all year, and I was really happy that we turned in an overall solid performance on Saturday in all of our slots - A, B and C," Mayfield said. "Even though we only qualified for one for individuals, that doesn't really show just how well we performed. I was happy."
Freshman standout Amani Smathers, who also writes for the Daily, won eight of 12 bouts in the squad's A slot and led the way for the epees.
"Amani did great," Mayfield said. "She had a fantastic record against really good fencers. She advanced once and almost advanced to the final pool in individual competition - I was proud."
Zouein was joined on the sabre squad by sophomore Lauren Kaplan and freshman Alex Cheetham, who has been battling injury. Both Kaplan and Cheetham also fenced well for the day.
"Lauren Kaplan's fencing is really starting to come together," Zouein said. "I think she's starting to understand what's going on much better."
"Cheetham fenced all day," Mayfield added. "She has been consistently fencing well and being a key part of the sabre team although she's in a lot of pain. She's a tough girl."
One of the only low points for the Jumbos was a team loss to rival Boston College, which placed third on the day.
"I was disappointed that we as a school didn't beat BC," Mayfield said. "That's just part of it being a long day with 13 rounds, but we still have one more chance."
Tufts will continue with postseason competition Saturday at the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association Championships held at Smith College.
