On Friday Feb. 5 the varsity teams gathered for the conference team championships at Marian Catholic High School where New Trier’s men’s team finished second and the women’s team finished fourth in conference.

Overall, Culver Academy finished first, New Trier finished second, and Stevenson finished third for Men’s fencing. For women’s fencing, Culver Academy finished first, Stevenson second, Libertyville third, and New Trier fourth.

Prior to the team championships, the individual conference championships were held on the Northfield campus Jan.29. Seniors Daniel Himmelfarb and Abby Geiger won silver medals, competing in men’s and women’s sabre. The bronze medalists were senior Xingyuan Huang and junior Lila Bayvas in men’s and women’s epee. 

“There’s a lot of newer fencers from other schools that are extremely good which made competition more difficult than usual. Even if we all didn’t place, we all fenced the best we have this season, which was something to be proud of,” said junior women’s foilist, Xiaotian Shangguan.

Head varsity coach Colby Vargas said the earlier part of the fencing season in November was spent practicing technique, and as the season progressed, tactical preparation was a bigger focus.

“I’m working on very individualized things with each student, so these last few weeks, it’s really been about bonding with their teammates, and working on very specific technical issues with me.”

The women’s varsity team has a record of 14-0 this season and have remained undefeated for the last few years. The men’s varsity team has a record of 12-2. 

Wang mentioned the intensity of some of the tournaments this year.

“There were many times where I was tied with my opponent 14 to 14 in a 15-touche match, with the next touche deciding who gets a medal and who doesn’t, and other times where I had to catch up by three or more points in less than 30 seconds,” said Wang.

The preparation process this season was interrupted by Covid, specifically the Omicron variant. 

“After winter break, many of our seniors tested positive for the variant, which included some of our captains. Teams had to practice and fence our competitions without them, which has been difficult for some of us since they have the most experience on our team,” said Shangguan.

All fencing teams were also relocated to the cafeteria at the Northfield campus as a result of the Gates Gym construction project that began in late December.

“We’ve lost some space and had to cut out some of the normal conditioning activities we usually do,” said Vargas.

Despite these complexities, the team has adapted and stayed engaged in fencing. Tyler Wang, a junior fencing men’s epee, emphasized the importance of one’s mindset and attitude towards the sport.

“It’s both a physical and mental sport, so tackling both parts of that coin with everything from meditation and yoga to electric fencing practice and footwork drilling allowed the team to substantially grow over the course of the season,” said Wang.