Recapping Day 1: For the third straight season, the Big Red opened the Ivy League Tournament with a victory over Brown. Unlike the past two seasons, when Cornell narrowly escaped close 14-13 battles, the Big Red won in convincing fashion, 17-10. Cornell did not fare as well in the second round of action against No. 5 Harvard, as the Crimson won the round 21-6. Harvard won all three weapons, with epee leading the way with three points. After sitting out a round, the Big Red was narrowly defeated by No. 7 Princeton 16-11 to end the day with a 1-2 record. Alex Heiss led the way for the Big Red, winning eight of her nine possible matches. Meanwhile, Tasha Hall was phenomenal at epee, going 6-3 in only her second match for the Big Red this year. Epee Katherine Thompson and foil Jessica Tranquada also had a winning record after the first day.

Diaper Dandy: After starting her collegiate career with a strong tenth place finish at the Temple Collegiate Open, freshman foil Rebecca Hirschfield has quickly established herself as an important member of the fencing squad. This past weekend, which was supposed to be a break in between the Ivy League Championship, Hirschfield instead traveled to Albuqurque, N.M. to participate in the Junior Olympics. She was impressive, finishing 29th overall out of 152 participations. The top-32 finish earned Hirschfield a spot at Summer Nationals. Hirschfield plans to participate in more national tournaments in the future, but she is also “excited to bring my experiences and mind set of the competition back to the college arena, in order to represent my team as best I could.”

4t. Cornell, 1-2

4t. Penn, 1-2

4t. Yale, 1-2

7.   Brown, 0-4

Scouting Columbia: Columbia is the two-time defending Ivy League champion, and the team is currently ranked fourth in the nation. Although the team lost to Harvard (12-15) on Day 1, the Lions are traditionally one of the toughest teams in the nation. Not including the Crimson loss, the Lions have only given up a combined 18 points in its other three matches. The team is led by its sophomore sabre Jackie Jacobson. An All-Ivy and All-American selection from a year ago, Jacobson has been dominant, going 9-0 in the tournament preceding the Ivy League Championship. She is currently 8-4 in the championships. The strength of the Columbia team is its epee squad. Three All-Ivy selections return for the Lions – Martyna Urbanowicz, Oriana Isaacson, and Tess Finkel. All three accomplished fencers have had to fight for time with upcoming freshman, Neely Bradfield-Harvey, vying for an All-Ivy selection of her own. Bradfield-Harvey has been the best of the bunch so far in the championships, going 9-3. At foil, the Lions return All-American Nicole Ross. She is also 9-3 in the championships and she has won 18 of her last 21 bouts. She is joined by a second-team All-Ivy selection from a year ago, Abbey Caparros-Janto. Overall, Columbia has six 2008 All-Ivy selections on its squad, but it's the freshmen, especially at sabre (Sammy Roberts, Stephanie Aiuto, and Narine Atamian), who could be the difference.

Scouting Penn: Penn finds itself tied with Cornell in fourth place after going 1-2 the first day. Penn opened with a loss to Columbia and a narrow defeat to Princeton before gaining momentum and destroying Brown, 23-4. The Quakers are led by its sophomore sabre, Danielle Kamis, a first-team All-Ivy selection from a year ago who finished 10th in the nation at the NCAA championship. Kamis opened eyes this season with a victory over Olympic bronze-medalist Rebecca Ward at the Princeton Multi-Meet. The leader of the foil squad, Ilana Smith, finished ninth in the nation last year. She was also an All-Ivy, but has struggled thus far at the championships, going 2-6. The big surprise for Penn in the tournament has been the emergence of the epee squad. Although no single member stands out, the four headed monster of Stephanie Wheeler, Kathryn Anthony, Kristen Hughes, and Alexandra Kozryra have been effective. The group has gone 15-12 and was within one point of defeating a talented Columbia squad.

Scouting Yale: Yale also holds a 1-2 record after the first day of competition, but have already faced the two toughest opponents in the Ivy League Championship (Columbia and Harvard). Yale is led by a trio of juniors – Rebecca Moss, Lidia Gocheva, and Jennifer Ivers. Moss was the second best epee at least year's championship, and she is 6-2 in this year's tournament. Meanwhile, Gocheva was also an All-Ivy selection a year ago and she finished 23^rd in the nation. She has struggle thus far in the championship but her experience makes her a dangerous foil. Ivers joins Moss as the only other Bulldog to have a winning record in sabre at the tournament, going 5-4 overall, including an impressive 2-1 performance against Columbia.

 

Up Next: The Big Red is back in action next weekend, traveling to Brandeis University on Sunday, March 1 for the IFA Championships.