The fencing team is off to a strong start, with two tournaments in the books as the Red heads into its last competition of the semester at Brandeis on Dec. 2.The fencing team is off to a strong start, with two tournaments in the books as the Red heads into its last competition of the semester at Brandeis on Dec. 2.

Cornell kicked off the season competing in Philadelphia, Pa. on Oct. 27 at the Temple Open the largest fencing meet of its kind before travelling to Fairfield, Conn. on Nov. 11 to compete against eight schools in the Sacred Heart Invitational. The Red had a strong showing at both tournaments with Cornell having its best performance to date at Temple. A few weeks later, the team emerged victorious in its second tournament of the year, recording a winning record against every school it faced.

Our tournaments are getting progressively more difficult, said assistant head coach Oleg Brusilovsky. In our first tournament when we went to Temple and it was the best performance in history at the Temple Open. We medalled in every category and we were particularly impressed by [junior] foilist Christie McIntosh who beat a former world champion in the championship bout.

Each squad has been experiencing a successful start to the season, from foil to sabre to epee. At Temple, in a competition featuring more than 30 universities and 600 individual competitors, the foil squad placed five fencers in the Top-32, with three placing in the Top-5.

We all as a squad have been working really hard, McIntosh said. At every practice we all fence as many bouts as we can and no one has been slacking.

McIntosh bested the competition in a field of 81 foilists and earned a gold medal, with freshman Ediona Sera tying for third and freshman Angelica Gangemi placing fifth. Sophomore Allison Berdichevsky took 10th, while sophomore Alexis Mandon rounded out the group with a 32nd-place finish. The foilists had a program-best finish at the 33rd annual Temple Open.

The foil squad has been really great so far [this season,] McIntosh said. Weve got two freshmen starters whove had a great showing. Angelica [Gangemi] went undefeated at the [Sacred Heart Tournament] and Ediona Sera came in third at Temple.

The foil squad went undefeated while at the Sacred Heart Invitational, beating eight strong competitors. McIntosh dropped just one bout, finishing 19-1, while Gangemi stole the spotlight with her unblemished 19-0 record.

Our season is picking up and getting more challenging, McIntosh said. Weve had a great showing at Temple and Sacred Heart and thats warming us up for Brandeis.

Brandeis will offer the team its first real taste of strong competition for the year, according to the junior. Cornell will face off against teams from Boston College, North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, St. John's, MIT and host Brandeis.

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2012 WINTER SUPPLEMENT | Fencers Start Season Off Strong