February
27, 2007
Haverford Captures MACFA Team Championship;
Fords Finish 2006-07 Undefeated in MACFA Competition
WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Haverford Men’s Fencing
finished an impressive season by capturing the 2007 MACFA conference
team championship held at the College of William and Mary, ending
up ahead of the 14 other conference teams. This marked the third
time Haverford has won this title, after 1983 and 2004. Haverford
also won the epee title, the fifth time overall and the first
since 1998. Continuing its perennial strength in saber, the team
medalled by tying for 2nd place. Men’s foil also had a strong
finish at 4th place.
It was a dramatic and hard fought competition. Haverford prevailed
over second place finisher Stevens Institute of Technology by
the razor thin margin of 94-93 in the overall score. Johns Hopkins
and Drew, presumed threats, fenced well but finished at more distant
third and fourth places respectively even though not out of the
running until fairly late in the day. Despite losing to Haverford
18-9 just two weeks earlier in the conference dual meet, Stevens
came out looking strong and had trained very hard to pass ahead
of several other teams it had lost to in the regular season thanks
to superb coaching and preparation by its staff. Haverford had
worried about this as a possibility the week before the competition,
with team members predicting an upset by Stevens somewhere in
the medal standings. Stevens’ foil and saber squads put
in impressive performances, finishing first in both weapons and
dropping just one bout combined on the ultra competitive and deep
foil A and B strips. Haverford had been turning out fine performances
in both of these weapons, taking most of the other conference
teams to pieces without much effort, but found itself well behind
the front runner, Stevens, nearing the end of the competition
as both foil and saber had finished before the epee had progressed
far.
Haverford’s epee squad was squarely in the lead of its weapon
at that point, but the only chance for victory was for the squad
to run the tables for virtually the entire tournament, generating
an air of dejection among the ranks of the team that all was probably
lost. Most team members felt now that they were not going to win
as they had hoped for months. Still Haverford refused to give
up and accept any fate as pre-ordained, least of all the epee
squad. Epee did not just come to compete but put on a veritable
magic show, miraculous in its meeting an almost impossible goal.
The squad finished the day at 37-3. Coach Dave Littell stated,
“They weren't’t just making all the touches; every
touch scored, I literally mean every single touch, was amazing,
dominating, and absolutely cool to watch.”
With all the statistics fully tabulated from the rest of the competition
and epee’s heroic run, Haverford found itself looking at
its last bout in the tournament as an absolute must win. As the
fencing gods would have it, senior captain Colin Sullivan, an
integral part of the whole season long drive for a conference
championship, was charged with the task of bringing home the victory.
With the entire team on its feet in watching and cheering in suspense,
Sullivan came from behind to win the bout 5-3 and was mobbed on
the strip by his roaring team. The impossible which had become
the improbable suddenly had become the reality. A more exciting
end to a conference season there could not possibly have been.
As for individual performances, every single man competing did
what he had to, each winning challenging bouts. The foil event
was filled with fencers rated in the top 50 in the country. Senior
Woden Kusner turned in a strong day on the A strip, finishing
10-4, defeating a defending conference individual champion 5-1
in the process and heartbreakingly losing three of his bouts narrowly
at scores of 4-5. He met the personal goals he had set prior to
the competition and looked sharp scoring on hard to hit back flicks
with riposte or on rapid counter attacks into preparation.
Sophomore Max Rosen-Long also went toe to toe with the deep foil
tableau, capping what was a break out season and quickly became
a spectator favorite for his fluid motion, distinctive on strip
personality, and looping flicks around his opponents’ parries.
Junior Chris Rogers was solid on the C-Strip, consistently beating
many of his opponents 5-0 or 5-1 with his signature slow press
forward with a disengage or double disengage. Rogers finished
11-3.
In keeping with what is becoming a Haverford tradition, saber
was near the top of the conference. Freshman Jared Forbus fenced
with energy and attitude on A-strip, methodically defeating the
best saber fencers in the conference. The audience could hear
his parries and the sheer force of his cuts. He ended up at 12-2
in the pool and fenced 6th overall during the conference finals.
Sophomore Dan Arnstein unexpectedly was forced to fence on the
B-strip at the last moment, a position he had rarely fenced in
during his Haverford career, but he accepted his fate with gusto
and was able to grind out a 9-4 day even after bloodied and injured
by a hard shot to the face. Rounding out saber was freshman Adam
Zakheim who despite some initial concerns gained solid control
of his game and his competitors (some of whom apparently had trained
several days specifically to try to beat him) to finish 9-3. His
movement picked up over time, and he was able to out maneuver
his opponents and beat them off the en guarde line.
The remarkable epee squad needs little further fanfare. Sophomore
Colin Cross posted a 10-2 record on C-strip with the consistency
that has become guaranteed from his game. Freshman Tyler Evans
was all but impressive at 13-1 on the A-strip, defeating several
nationally ranked fencers often at point blank range. Sullivan
had a career day to go with his conference clincher, going a perfect
14-0 on the B-strip including an absolute clutch win in a bout
over Stevens in sudden death overtime, 4-3, with just seconds
remaining. Sullivan won this bout with a gutsy all-or-nothing
lightening fast closing fleche to the blade side. No touch on
the day was more important than that one, more critical to the
balance of victory or defeat. In over 800 total bouts fenced,
the conference championship hung on one touch.
Praise also must be given to those fencers not competing. The
victory would not have been possible without the steady efforts
of senior captain Brandon West. Few showed the same measure of
leadership, calm, control, and dedication, especially in his management
of the epee squad at the tournament. If anyone could have willed
a team to victory, it was West.
Unfortunately, Haverford (among other schools) was forced to have
its fencers in foil and epee forfeit their places in the individual
finals due to the impending onset of inclement weather. Kusner,
Evans, and Sullivan all had qualified based on their pool round
performances but were unable to try for individual honors.
Overall Haverford finished 2007 undefeated in the regular conference
season and winning both the conference championship and one weapon
title. It was truly a dominating year. No Haverford team has ever
won both the MACFA championship and all dual meets, with the 2004
team finishing 9-4 in the regular season and the 1983 team narrowly
falling to Johns Hopkins 13-14. This leads to the debatable proposition
that this was the best Haverford fencing team in the program’s
70+ year history. Veterans of the 2004 team agree that 2007 was
stronger, but no doubt alumni will enjoy arguing about the strengths
of this team with their favorites from years past.
Partial Team Results (as information is
available)
Foil:
1. Stevens
2. Johns Hopkins
3. William and Mary
4. Haverford
Epee:
1. Haverford
2. Drew
Saber:
1. Stevens
2 (Tie) Haverford and Johns Hopkins
Pool Rankings (out of 15 fencers in
each pool)
Kusner 4th on A, Rosen-Long 4th on B, Rogers 3rd on C
Evans 2nd on A, Sullivan 1st on B, Cross 2nd on C
Forbus 1st on A and 6th Overall
