NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Highlighted by individual titles from
Zandra Feland and
Sandra Luo, the MIT women's fencing team collected five medals and produced eight top 10 finishes at The Big One Invitational hosted by Smith College on Saturday. Feland claimed her second epee crown, Luo finished atop the foil standings, and
Cassandra He powered the sabre contingent with a career-best eighth-place performance.
HOW IT HAPPENED - Epee:
- Following a 6-0 outing in her pool, Feland overpowered Adelaide McKelvey of Bowdoin, 15-3, in the round of 32. She went on to defeat Lauren Bartlett of UNH (15-7), Gabrielle Phelan of Sacred Heart (15-10), Nikki Bajaj of Northeastern (15-10), and teammate Eunice Choi (15-12) en route to the title.
- Choi's runner up finish resulted in the best ranking in career. She won all six bouts in her pool and topped Layna Abraham of UMass (15-7), Marwa Ellis of Northeastern (15-4), Vera Witte of Brandeis (15-10), and Veronica Scherk of Vassar (15-10) before falling to Feland in the championship.
- In her debut at the competition, Eugenie Cha claimed fifth place. She had a 6-0 ledger following pool play and posted wins over Sawyer Jane Segall of Tufts (15-5) and Olivia Bennett of Brandeis (15-11) but lost to Scherk in the round of eight by a 15-9 score.
- Priscilla Leang placed ninth as she went 6-0 in her pool, defeated Nika Ajamain of UMass (15-9) in the round of 32 but fell to Lela Mittman of Vassar (15-13).
- Hannah Beaver rounded out the Engineers in 19th place as she had a 4-1 record in her pool but lost to Scherk, 15-13, in the round of 32.
HOW IT HAPPENED - Foil:
- Luo won all six bouts in her pool and defeated Ines Benadouda of Sacred Heart (15-6), Elaine Liaw of Tufts (15-2), Zoe North of Vassar (15-8), Hannah Du of Brandeis (15-10), and Anna Ferretti of Stony Brook (15-5) for the foil crown.
- Jordyn Goldson registered a career-best finish of 10th place. Following a 6-0 performance in her pool, she outlasted Amelia Bannister of UMass (15-14) in the round of 32 but lost to North (15-6).
HOW IT HAPPENED - Sabre:
- He went 5-1 in her pool and defeated Amie Binan of WPI (15-7) and Angelina Kofman of Northeastern (15-9). However, she lost to Nandini Bains of Brandeis, 15-13, in the round of eight to rank eighth overall.
- Kelsey Fontenot tied her career-best ranking of ninth place. She won all six bouts in her pool, defeated Jiyoo Park of BU (15-8), but lost to Bains, 15-9, in the round of 16.
UP NEXT:
- MIT will compete in the Beanpot on Thursday, November 20 at 5:00 PM at Harvard University.
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