The men's fencing team had an impressive showing at the New England Fall Collegiate Championships at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. last Saturday, taking home the top prize in two of three competitions and placing third in the other. Five Judges made the round of eight, tying with Brown for most in the meet.

"Overall, I thought it was a good performance. We're in the top level of our peers in New England, like [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] and [Boston College]," said coach Bill Shipman.

Alex Powell '12 won the men's épée bracket. MIT sophomore Jackson Crane came in second, and fencers from Sacred Heart University and Brown University tied for third. Tucker Robinson-Neff '13 placed 11th, while teammate Nick Gordon '12 came in 15th. Mike Zook '13 was 18th, and fellow sophomore Harry Kaufer '13 was placed 22nd.

Captain Adam Austin '11 won gold in the sabre competition, beating out BC junior Peter Souders. Jon Rollock '11 tied with Vassar College senior Andrew Fischl for third. Austin went on to face Rollock in the semifinals, defeating his teammate 15-11.

Sebastian Bruno-Harris '14 earned 17th place. Mark Borreliz '14 placed 24th, and Lucas Gelwarg '13 and Ben Schmidt '14 finished just after him.

In foil, SHU sophomore Ethan Patterson was the victor, and BC freshman Patrick Riley earned second. Julian Cardillo '14 tied with Brown University senior Scott Philips for the bronze. "Cardillo had a nice introduction to college fencing," said Shipman. "[Cardillo] looked great," Gelwarg said. "He could lead the foils squad in victories this year, and will be one of the best in our conference."

Following them was Seawn Norton '12 in fifth place. Andrew Mandel '11 earned 26th, while Seth Dworman '14 came in 42nd, and Jason Shieh '14 was 50th.

"The day went extremely well. I think this is one of the best teams we've had in a while, and this competition was a good indicator of the strong season we have ahead of us," said Austin.

The women's team did not perform as well. Vikki Nunley '13 tied for third out of 82 fencers in foil, and was the only Brandeis fencer to medal. Brown took the top two spots in the foil division.

Shipman was less upbeat about the women's team: "Leah Mack '14 did well. [Nunley] had a good day. The women's team was a bit unbalanced but they're also inexperienced."

Hallie Frank '14 earned 29th in foil, and Ariel Gomberg '13 came in 65th.

In épée, Vassar senior Sophie Courser won gold against 72 other fencers, followed by Brown freshman Cory Abbe of Brown.

Captain Emma Larkin '11 came in 14th, Kristin Ha '14 was 16th, and Mack was 22nd. Emily Mandel '12 earned 25th.

The top two spots in saber were taken by MIT fencers.

Zoe Messinger '13 placed ninth out of 68 fencers. Emmily Smith '13 earned 13th, Alex Turner '11 15th and Kayla Cronin '11 18th.

Ha echoed Austin in being upbeat about the team's performance. "Everyone fenced really well," she said. "The results of this meet are a good sign of how we will do. Everyone was very supportive in cheering each other on," she said.

434 fencers fought in the competition.

This was the first fencing competition of the season for Brandeis after the team failed to move on from the NCAA Northeast Regionals at Brown University last March. Will Bedor '10 was the only Brandeis fencer to compete at Nationals.

The next competition for both teams will be the Northeast Conference Meet Nov. 20, which is hosted by MIT in Cambridge.

Editor's note: Julian Cardillo '14 is a Sports staff writer for the Justice.

-Jeffrey Boxer contributed
reporting.