Energy was high in Evanston’s gym as the New Trier Varsity Fencing team won their second of three competitions for the Great Lakes High School Fencing Conference title.

The competitors in this second weekend of the conference were Evanston, Deerfield, Glenbrook South, and Maine West.

For this competition, the fencers competed for a collective team win in the foil, epee and sabre sword categories.

“Today every touch counted and made the difference between winning and losing,” Sophie Beitel, freshman on the JV Girls Foil team said.

Girls Varsity Epee co-captain, Vicky Pappas, explained that the key to winning this conference was different from other competitions. The winner of the Great Lakes High School Fencing Conference is determined by which team has cumulatively won the most bouts.

If teams are at a tie, Pappas explained, then the winner of the conference is determined by how many total touches each team received throughout the conference.

However, some of the bout wins this weekend came easily for the girls foil and epee teams. They automatically won matches before they even stepped up to fence on a technicality called a “bye.”

In this case, it happened because the other schools, like Evanston, either did not have enough players in the specific sword category or had no existing epee or foil team at all.

Lacking players in some sword categories isn’t uncommon for many schools. Alison Haut, the mother of epee co-captain Charlotte Office said that she’s noticed there has been an influx in the need to call a “bye.” In the last few years, there have been many schools that have started new fencing teams.

For schools like Evanston, whose program is newer, there are still some gaps in team participation in certain sword categories. Yet this issue for one team serves as a benefit to their competitors.

Even when the fencers weren’t fencing, they were off on the sidelines, watching and cheering for their teammates. Before the match, Pappas said that her goal for her team was to have them “keep trying and working hard even if they are down.” This perseverance paid off as the varsity epee girls won their sword division in the second competition.

Hannah Sroussi, a sophomore on the girls JV foil team is a new player to watch, according to Assistant Varsity coach, Bradley Kuklis. ”It’s been great watching her take her fencing to the next level,” Kuklis said. Regarding Sroussi’s competitiveness, he said that she “has had really good records at dual meets.”

This season, Sroussi was the only underclassmen who placed in the “top eight” at the Midwest Open, an accolade that is rare for a newer fencer.

The Great Lakes High School conference is very unique as the competing schools are not exclusively located in the Chicago-land area.

For example, Culver Military Academy, is located in Culver, Indiana and Catholic Memorial High School hails from Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Culver was highlighted as one of New Trier’s fiercest competitors in this conference. Alessandro Alaya, a junior member of the boys foil team said, “Culver is our toughest competition as their coaches are very experienced.”

Kuklis further explained that because Culver is a private school, they have some ability to recruit students, even from countries in Europe, allowing them to hand-pick the best fencers.

Next weekend will be the conclusion of the GLHSFC and the fencing team will continue their fight to take the title using, as Kuklis said, “Their teamwork and strong support of one another.”