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04/02/2014 12:00 AM

Hand Fencing Grew in Numbers, Experience


The Hand fencing girls' foil squad of Emily Syvertsen, Chloe Broquet, Kathleen Downes, and Sarah Price stands with its runner-up trophy at the Team State Championships at Guilford on March 8, capping off a season of tremendous growth for the Tigers.

The winter campaign of competition brought many new faces, disciplines, and postseason hardware to Hand fencing.

Under first-year Head Coach Rich Fisler, the Tigers were led by captains Kathleen Downes, Chloe Broquet, Griffin McShane, and Ha Hyeong Kim. While the team welcomed more than 20 new fencers to the club, it also picked up a new weapon in the épée.

In the postseason, Hand sent both of its foil squads to the Team State Championships at Guilford on March 8 and had a very successful showing, as the girls finished runner-up to Guilford and the boys came in fourth. A week prior for the Individual State Championships at Hopkins, foil athlete Kyle Welch placed fifth to earn Second Team All-State honors and he will additionally be competing in the Junior Olympics this summer. Additionally, Chloe Moulin took first in the JV postseason tournament in Bridgeport on March 15.

For team awards among the boys, Ryland Chin (Coach's Award), McShane (Sportsmanship Award), Will Salerno (Rookie of the Year), and Jayson Tung (Most Improved) garnered honors. With the girls, Alina Dess (Coach's), Downes (Sportsmanship), Lauren Ganino (Rookie of the Year), and Hailee Hoffman (Most Improved) took home recognition.

In a season of visible growth and great achievements, Fisler looks to continue the program's development for next year and beyond.

"This was a very successful season for the Hand fencing team," said Fisler. "We added over 20 new fencers to the fencing community, with a surge of novice fencers joining the team. We competed well in state tournaments and received medals at all novice and JV tournaments we competed in. We also started the épée squad this year-a new weapon for the team that the team is very excited about. Next year we are hoping to be able to compete in all three weapons [foil, epee, and sabre]. We are looking forward to continued improvement next year and continued advancement in the overall rankings of the Tigers' place among other schools in the state."