In their first intercollegiate meet, the Millersville fencing club passed the first big test of the season.
The team sent eight competitors to University of Maryland on Oct. 26 for the Chaos Invitational. Sophomore Josh Herring finished in first place in the sabre event.
Christopher Medalis, the team’s coach and advisor, was pleased with the team’s performance in their first competition since joining the Baltimore-Washington Collegiate Fencing Conference (BWCFC) North region.
The competition, a single-day tournament individual-mixed event, featured many of the team’s in the BWCFC and gave the club a good idea of the competition they will be facing the rest of this season.
The tournament featured three weapons: foil, epee and sabre. Each event has a different target area and the fencer makes touches to score points.
Medalis said that, much like their own team, the event featured a group of 103 students from nine schools all with diverse levels of experience.
“I think there was a very broad representation of skill levels across the whole board at the event,” Medalis said.
The 12-member team sent some freshmen that were in their first competition.
The team received a boost in interest following the success of the U.S. Olympic team this past summer in Beijing.
Herring came in with the most experience on the team. He has been fencing since high school.
“He comes in as a heavy hitter for us,” Medalis said. “He is one of our main anchors.”
Freshman Kyle Ream left with the team’s top finish in the foil event with a fifth-place result. Sophomore Hannah Emig finished 10th and freshman Phil Thomas placed 15th. Freshman Tom McCarron was the lone Millersville participant in the epee event and placed 26th.
The Chaos Invitational was a non-conference event. The fencing club’s first conference meet will be at Temple University on Nov. 9, and will be a team event.
Unlike the Chaos Invitational, three members of each team will compete in each event and their results go towards the team’s score.
Individual scores also go towards the tally for the championships at the end of the season.
The following week is the Temple Open, which is one of the largest intercollegiate events for fencing on the east coast.
Both varsity-level and club teams will be present and several hundred participants are expected.
The team practices twice a week for about six hours a week.
They concentrate on general fitness and conditioning as well as the technical aspects of the sport.
Both of these areas help to put it all together in order to have success at competitions.
The team’s accomplishments at their first competition have them hopeful that this will be a successful season. Medalis wants the fencers to be enthusiastic about competing and be happy with their performance regardless of the result.
“I am cautiously optimistic for the rest of the season,” Medalis said.
“Since it’s our first year I am more hopeful that the students get out there, perform well, and have a good time.”
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