Fencing: Teams place fourth at NCAAs

Finishing fourth in the nation, behind top scholarship schools Duke, Penn State and St. John’s, is pretty impressive. The men's and women's fencing teams did just that this season, and the Tigers' fourth-place finish tied their best in program history, matching a feat they accomplished in the 1990s.

Not only did Princeton finish fourth, but the women notched 87 victories, three more than the next team, Duke.

The Tigers started the season off on the right foot, taking every advantage to compete. Beginning with the Garret Open, hosted by Penn State, the underclassmen showed their strengths, with freshman Eve Levin finishing in second in the foil. Classmate Diamond Wheeler placed eighth in saber, while sophomore Eliza Stone placed fifth. On the men’s side, junior Alexander Mills continued to build on his successful career by placing second in foil, while sophomore Ed Kelley took third in the epee.

The team then opened its dual meet season in early December with a victory over defending NCAA champion Penn State on the men’s side by a score of 15-12. The victory snapped a 16 dual-meet losing streak against the Nittany Lions dating back to their first meeting in 1984.

Princeton also challenged other top fencing schools throughout the season, including No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 9 Temple, while the men were ranked No. 6 and the women were ranked No. 4 at the time. Although the Tigers suffered a close loss to the Fighting Irish, they swept most of their other opponents. The men finished off the dual meet season with only two losses, while the women had just three.

Although the Tigers had performed well heading into the Ivy League Championships in February, neither of the teams were favorites going into the competition. Without early-season Ivy League matchups, it was hard for head coach Zoltan Dudas, to predict the results. After two longs days of competition at Jadwin Gymnasium, the women’s team swept its opponents to finish 6-0 and defend its Ivy League title, while the men’s side suffered some narrow losses to finish fourth.

Stone was recognized by CollegeFencing360.com as the National Fencer of the Week for her performance during Ivies, while Mills was named the Most Outstanding Performer by the Ivy League.