The women's fencing team spent all day Saturday competing in the Penn State Garrett Open, an individual competition consisting of three rounds of pools and one final round of direct elimination for those who qualified.
Julia Balch, Camille Pham, Anna Zhou, and Emme Zhou competed in foil. In the first round, Emme Zhou won five of six bouts, losing a tough 5-4 bout to one of the final medalists; her early successes earned her a 5th place standing for the round. Pham won three of five bouts, earning her an 8th place standing. Balch and Anna Zhou won two bouts apiece, and all four fencers were promoted to the next round. The second round saw Emme Zhou, Balch and Pham all competing in the same seven person pool. Emme Zhou compounded upon her successes and maintained her 5th place standing by winning five of six bouts; again, her only loss was to one of the final medalists. Balch and Pham won two bouts apiece in that same pool, and Anna Zhou also clinched the two bouts necessary to proceed to the next round.
In the third round, Anna Zhou pulled through to a place as the 8th seed in the fourth round direct elimination by winning three of her five bouts in that final pool. Emme Zhou defended her ranking by winning three of five bouts, and was 5th seed in fourth round direct elimination. From their records in the third round, Balch and Pham were seeded 10th and 15th respectively in the direct elimination bracket. Direct elimination proved especially challenging, and both Zhou sisters would lose heartbreaking opening bouts; Emme lost 15-14 after a comeback and an impressive succession of single touches, and Anna lost 15-11. The final standings placed Emme Zhou in 10th place, Anna Zhou in 12th place, Balch in 13th place, and Pham in 15th place.
Epee fielded the greatest number of Yale competitors. In the first round, Joy Ma, Shirley Wang and Linda Liu all won four of six bouts, placing 13th, 14th and 15th respectively. In 16th place, they were immediately followed by Michelle Nam, who won three of six bouts in the same pool as Liu. Rakel Tanibajeva won two of six bouts, lost two tough bouts 5-4, and finished with a positive indicator and 22nd place. Jacqueline Hayre-Perez won one of six bouts, losing the second bout necessary earn promotion to the second round 5-4. In the second round, Ma swept her pool by winning all five bouts, earning a 1st place ranking entering the third round. Nam won four of five bouts, losing only to Liu who had won three of five bouts. Nam advanced to the third round in 3rd place, and Liu advanced in 14th place. Tanibajeva and Wang both won two bouts, enough for promotion to third round, with Tanibajeva again maintaining a positive indicator.
Tanibajeva and Wang entered the third and final round of pools with a vengeance, winning four of five bouts each and earning 4th and 5th seeds respectively in fourth round direct elimination. Ma won three of five bouts, advancing to direct elimination in the 8th seed. Liu and Nam both won two of five bouts, both barely missing the cutoff for advancement to direct elimination; Liu just barely missed the cut, winning the same number of bouts and the same indicator as the final qualifier, but earning two less touches overall. Liu and Nam finished in 17th and 19th place overall. In the first bracket, Tanibajeva, Wang and Ma lost bitterly fought bouts 15-10, 15-11 and 15-12 respectively to earn 9th, 10th and 12th places overall.
Saberists Lauren Kim, Samantha Wood and Sophia Zhuang joined their teammates later in the morning. In the first round, Zhuang won four of seven bouts, losing the remaining three with tight 5-3, 5-3 and 5-4 scores. Kim claimed two of six bouts, joining Zhuang in the second round. Wood won one of six bouts, missing the cutoff for promotion by a difference of two points on her indicator. Kim swept the second round, winning all five bouts and advancing to the third round in 2nd place. Zhuang, competing in the same pool as Kim, won two of five bouts, narrowly missing a third 5-4, and advanced to the third round in 14th place. In the third and final round of pools, Kim won five of six bouts, maintaining her 2nd place standing into the fourth round direct elimination bracket. Zhuang, again in the same pool as Kim, won four of six bouts, proceeding to the fourth round seeded 4th in the direct elimination bracket. After tough first bouts in direct elimination, Kim and Zhuang finished in 9th and 10th places respectively.
By the end of the competition, nearly the entire team finished ranked within the top 15 places of their weapon category. After a long day of bouting, the Bulldogs were thrilled to catch the second half of the Harvard-Yale Football Game, witness the Elis' epic comeback and celebrate the win together.
