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01/16/2023 11:44 AMThe North Haven Nighthawks co-ed fencing team began their season on Dec. 1, with their first tournament taking place on Dec. 19.
The Nighthawks are coached by Jim Harris, who has most recently been with the team since 2020; however, he also previously coached the team from 2001 to 2008.
There are three captains on the team: Jess Hansard (senior, épée), Max Russo (senior, foil), and Joline Nguyen (senior, foil). Coach Harris explains how each captain leads not only their specific squad but also the team as a whole.
“They have done an amazing job this year taking over not only with the coaching but also keeping their teammates organized and being involved in great fundraising on their own,” said Coach Harris. “Joline has had to balance all three of the women’s teams as well as assimilate to an equally large number of novice girl fencers, teaching them the sport, teaching them the expectations of the team, not only how the team does things, but how we do things.”
The Nighthawks total almost 40 fencers on the roster, with the girls’ team including more than the boys. Harris discussed how each team includes a mix of veterans and newcomers this season.
“We have a very veteran team for all three of the boys’ squads, with the exception of sabre,” said Coach Harris. “We do not necessarily have an experienced team for the boys; this is going to be their first real experience competing.”
There are several fencers to look out for as North Haven’s season continues to progress, however. Joline, Jess, and Jannat Imran (sophomore, épée) qualified for the Junior Olympics in the offseason, which will take place from Feb. 17 to 20 in Denver. Harris talked about their accomplishments thus far in the season, as well as what the coach’s expectations are for when they are competing.
“They took time on their own to do this in the offseason and balance their commitment to the team,” said Coach Harris. “For all three of them, it is going to be their first major national event. I think it is going to be a great experience for them, and I am very excited for them.”
In order to qualify for the Junior Olympics, there is a qualifying tournament in December (the United States Fencing Association (USFA) tournament) that is hosted by the Candlewood Fencing Club in Newtown. Harris shared how each fencer qualifies for the tournament.
“It is based on how many people enter the tournament, so the more people that enter, the more slots that they get for Junior Olympics,” said Coach Harris. “There were two or three slots for each weapon, and they had to finish in the top three to qualify.”
Looking back at last season, the Nighthawks qualified for the Central Connecticut Fencing Conference (CCFC) Championships. The men’s foil, women’s sabre, and men’s sabre qualified for the team championships.
Awards from last year included Joline and Ayla Sivri (junior, épée) being named First Team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference, as well as Samantha Adams (senior, foil) and Will Whitcomb (senior, sabre) named Second Team All-Conference.
Harris shared his goals for both teams for the remainder of the season. “The goal for all of our squads is to qualify for the team championships,” said Coach Harris. “After we have qualified for our conference championships, we start to look forward to what we can do after that. For the girls, I think based on their performance last year, I have pretty high expectations for them,” said Coach Harris. “I think it is realistic to expect all three teams to qualify for the conference championships, and once they get comfortable, I think they can do a lot of damage when they get there.”
Although it is still early in the season, Coach Harris looks to have both fencing teams improve so that they will be prepared for the conference and state championships.
“For the veteran fencers, I think it is going to be pushing themselves to get better. I think they have very lofty goals and are putting in the work every day to accomplish those,” said Coach Harris. “For the first-year fencers, it would be putting them in situations where they are not necessarily ready yet in the beginning of the season and seeing how they progress as the year goes on. As long as they keep their heads on straight, I think they are going to be in good shape for the end of the season.”
To help further prepare for not only the high school season but also for the Junior Olympics, some fencers are members of the Silver City Fencing Club in Wallingford.
“Joline and Max, for example, work out at the club. Jess also goes to a couple of different clubs and works hard all season and offseason,” said Coach Harris. “My assistant coach is there and some of the fencers work with him during the offseason. They really put in a tremendous amount of work.”
The boys’ team includes Russo, Tai Moffat (senior, foil), Hansard, Luke Hamling (senior, épée), Whitcomb, Grey Clavero (junior, épée), Grant Grotzke (sophomore, foil), Matt Koompare (sophomore, épée), Jaden Nguyen (sophomore, sabre), Jeff Stalker (sophomore, sabre), Ben Pollio (freshman, foil), Gavin Brown (freshman, foil), Jonas Miller (freshman, épée), Tim Flanagan (freshman, épée), Wajahat Ali (freshman, épée), Eli Feinberg (freshman, sabre) and Robert Frunzio (freshman, sabre).
The girls’ team includes Nguyen, Adams, Audrey Notaro (senior, sabre), Rachel Adams (junior, foil), Mackenzie Ly (junior, foil), Ayla Sivri (junior, épée), Anita Sajan (junior, sabre), Hanako Moffat (sophomore, foil), Emily Cerasoli (sophomore, foil), Zayna Saidi (sophomore, foil), Anna Hansard (sophomore, épée), Imran, Fiona Gao (sophomore, épée), Antonia Novicki (sophomore, sabre), Skye Carlisle (sophomore, sabre), Chelsea Chin-Mook (sophomore, sabred), Melanie Petrillo (freshman, foil), Georgia Tancredi (freshman, épée), Ilana Liu (freshman, épée), and Angela Lin (freshman, sabre).