New Trier fencing had a strong showing in their opening preseason meet at Lowell High School in Indiana on Nov. 7.
Both men and women competed in three categories: foil, epee, and saber. A foil is the lightest of the three, and points are scored with only the tip of the foil. The target should be the waist up (excluding the arms and head). For a saber, the target is from the waist to the top of the head, and the weapon is about as heavy as a foil. An epee is much heavier than the other two weapons, and the blade is much stiffer. The entire body is a valid target area.
In the men’s foil competition, seniors Max Blaul and Joey Shapiro finished second and seventh respectively, while junior Daniel Fay finished eighth.
In the women’s competition, senior Charlotte Office finished third, with sophomore Hannah Sroussi finishing fifth, and senior Mika Malter finishing eighth.
Senior Alec Chang led the way for the boys in the men’s saber competition, finishing third. Junior Alessandro Ayala finished fifth and senior Nick Adams finished eighth.
“The meet went really well considering we’ve only had two actual varsity practices under our belt,” Chang said. “We were missing some good fencers, so it was good to see some underclassmen step up and fence well.”
In women’s saber, seniors Anna Ferguson and Maddie Murray tied for third, and junior Clara Somfelean received sixth place.
New Trier took first and second place in the women’s epee, thanks to seniors Vicky Pappas and Amanda Wong. Senior Lisa Vetyuhova also performed well, receiving fifth place.
“If we can continue to rely on any fencer to step up and fence well, then we are going to have a really good season,” Chang said.
This year, New Trier has high expectations.
“All of the seniors are really motivated this year, seeing as it’s the last year of fencing for all of us,” senior Carly Cao said.
In fencing, New Trier is a member of the Great Lakes High School Fencing Conference, instead of the CSL South. They are part of the Central Division, which is comprised of Deerfield, Highland Park, Maine West, Evanston, and Glenbrook South. Other teams that will be competitive this year include Lowell and Culver Military Academy.
At the preseason meet, New Trier and Culver both stood head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. Since 2011, Culver, an Indiana based military school, has won four boys and three girls Great Lakes Championships. As conference play gets ready to begin, they will be stiff competition yet again.
“Culver always has a lot of talent on their team and is going to be very good again. They are definitely our biggest competition,” Chang said.
The Trevians have won 10 girls conference championships, and their last one in 2013. The boys team has won 19 conference championships, including last years’ championship.
They had a run of nine straight championships from 1997-2005.
The Trevs will have their first invitational of the season on Nov. 14 at Stevenson High School. Their conference championship is on Feb 6.