Freshman epee fencer Rebecca Hughes stole the spotlight for the Jumbos on Sunday as Tufts hosted the NCAA Northeast Regional Fencing Championships at the Gantcher Center. In an impressive performance, Hughes took 13th place out of 37 epees in the individual competition, the last on the 2006-07 schedule.
Since the meet serves as the qualifier for Nationals, only those fencers who had competed in a minimum number of bouts this season and had won at least 25 percent of those matches were eligible to compete. Hughes was joined by sophomore epee captain Tracy Mayfield, freshman epee Amani Smathers, sophomore foil Lisa Granshaw, senior sabre captain Louisa May Zouein, and freshman sabre Alex Cheetham.
"It was basically the best overall fencers in the region," Hughes said. "There were a lot of Div. I schools, so it was a nice mix of abilities. Harvard, Columbia and Yale were there, and those are really amazing fencing teams."
The fencers started off the day competing in pools of six or seven before their records were compiled and the overall field was narrowed to twenty. The next cuts reduced the number of competitors to fifteen and ten. Hughes was the lone member of the Jumbo squad to reach the third round.
"I had a good time," Hughes said. "I fenced all day, basically, except for the last round, which was almost impossible - the girls were so good. It was a really good day and it was a nice way for me to end the season because it's always nice to fence well, especially against really skilled fencers."
"The nice thing about Becca is that she comes to us with a lot of experience," coach Jason Sachs said. "It will take a year or two for Becca and Amani to be very strong fencers, but each has a seriously strong shot at qualifying for NCAAs within their four years here."
Confronted with tough opponents and an exhausting day of competition, the rest of the team did not fare quite as well as Hughes. Only Zouein, competing for the last time in her storied college career, advanced to the second round before facing elimination.
"Since it was Louisa May's last tournament, I think she really took that into account and fenced beautifully," sophomore foil captain Christine Lee said in an e-mail to the Daily.
"I'm not disappointed at all that none of them qualified [for Nationals]," Sachs said. "The odds are stacked very hard against any Tufts fencers. Six of eight slots are almost automatically given to Harvard, Columbia and St. Johns, and the other schools are programs that have scholarships, full-time coaches, and harder schedules that help your strength factor. When they do qualify, it is truly an amazing feat."
The Jumbos also suffered from Lee's absence on Sunday. At last year's Regional Championships, Lee placed 11th in foil competition, earning a trip to the NCAA Championships at Rice University as Tufts' lone representative at Nationals. In Waco, Texas, Lee claimed five victories en route to a 22nd place finish.
To Lee's own disappointment, she missed the beginning of the meet and was unable to participate in following competition.
"In terms of the whole season, this tournament is probably the most enjoyable because you're only fencing great fencers," Lee said. "Plus, they were the qualifiers for NCAA. I'm sorry that I had to end the season like this, but there's always next year."
Though the Jumbos will not send anyone to Nationals this year, their showing on Sunday was not indicative of their overall impressive season. Despite the loss of all its juniors to studies abroad, senior team president Donna Au to an internship, and foil captain Julia Shih and sabre co-captain Katherine Zouein to graduation, Tufts enjoyed great success this year and defeated a number of worthy opponents.
"I'm very happy with this team," Sachs said. "They've worked hard and supported one another. They've been a great team and great to coach."
