Columbia Fencing Braces for Ivy League Championships
2/7/2018 5:00:00 PM | Fencing
JADWIN GYMNASIUM - PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
| Men's Results (4-1) | Women's Results (5-1) |
| ------- | vs. Cornell: W, 24-3 |
| vs.Brown: W, 21-6 | vs.Brown: W, 25-2 |
|
vs. Penn: L, 12-15 |
vs. Penn: W, 18-9 |
| vs. Harvard: W, 14-13 | vs. Harvard: W, 16-11 |
| vs. Yale: W, 14-13 | vs. Yale: W, 21-6 |
| vs. Princeton: W, 15-12 | vs. Princeton: L, 13-14 |
MEN'S TEAM PREVIEW
The men's team will be looking for five straight Ivy League Championships at Princeton this weekend. Each of their four straight titles have been shared, as the Lions split the chip with Princeton and Penn last season. The men's team has not won an Ivy League title outright since the 2007-08 season.
SCOUTING THE LEAGUE
This season, the squad has beaten Yale 23-4, Penn 14-13, and Brown 20-7. Columbia's only loss to an Ivy League opponent came in a close match against Harvard at the St. John's Invitational (13-14). The team has not faced Princeton yet this season. The Lions will meet the championship hosts in the first match of the weekend, on Saturday at 11:45 a.m.
MEN'S FENCERS TO WATCH
The foil squad continues to pace the Lions this season with a 17-2 record. First-year Sidarth Kumbla is looking forward to his first Ivy League Championships as he sits at 38-10 overall. Junior Nolen Scruggs (31-14) was named First Team All-Ivy at last year's Ivy League Championships after going 10-4 during the weekend. Sam Moelis is 29-9 this season. If this trio starts off hot, it will be hard to cool down.
Senior Gabe Canaux was second team All-Ivy league last season, and has the best record on the epee squad at 23-13. For men's sabre, Calvin Liang, who is a co-captain on this year's team is the most experienced on the squad and boasts a 20-13 record this season.
"Ivies is unlike any other competition in the world," Liang said. "You have to feed off everyone's energy and know that you are not alone."
WOMEN'S TEAM PREVIEW
The women's team will be looking to avenge its loss at the 2017 Ivy League championships, in which the Lions fell to the Princeton Tigers in the final match of the weekend, and in the final bout to give Princeton the 14-13 advantage and the championship trophy. The Lions had won back-to-back Ivy Championships going into last year's round robins.
"It was disappointing for the women not to win Ivies for the first time in a long time, especially considering it was one team that won and there were no tie breakers." Sophomore Giana Vierheller said about last season. "I think that makes us realize that if we want to win, we can't settle for anything less than winning everything. I know that we can."
This season, the 2017 runner-up Lions go into this weekend with a 17-3 record, with Ivy wins over Yale (15-2), Penn (14-13), and Harvard (18-9).
WOMEN'S FENCERS TO WATCH
The women's epee squad has led the Lions this season with an 18-2 record, the best on the team. Vierheller is an unparalleled 30-3 in epee, and has the highest power ranking in the NCAA.
Columbia fencing is known for women's foil dominance, and this year has been no different, although the squad only has four fencers this season. Sophomore Ester Schreiber is 33-3, Junior captain Iman Blow has a 31-5 record, first-year Sylvie Binder is 24-5 and Quinn Crum sits at 27-11. This small but powerful group will be called upon to win a lot of bouts this weekend.
In women's sabre, Violet Michel has come out strong in her sophomore season, going 28-14 so far this season.
Senior captains Katie Angen (epee) and Lena Johnson (sabre) were both named First Team All-Ivy last season, both going 11-4 on the weekend. Both are poised to lead the Lions back to a league title in their last championships.
Returning All-Ivy Fencers 2017
Katie Angen - first-team women's epee
Lena Johnson - first-team women's sabre
Nolen Scruggs- first-team men's foil
Gabe Canaux - second-team men's epee
IVY CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
DAY 1 - FEB. 10
10:00 A.M. - Columbia vs. Cornell
11:45 A.M. - Columbia vs. Princeton
2:15 P.M. - Columbia vs. Brown
DAY 2 - FEB. 11
10:00 A.M. - Columbia vs. Harvard
11:45 A.M. - Columbia vs. Yale
2:15 P.M. - Columbia vs. Penn
5:45 P.M. - Awards Ceremony
Players Mentioned
