The New York University men's and women's fencing teams competed at the Dave Micahnik Penn Invitational on Saturday, January 17, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Both squads took on five opponents each while facing strong fields of competition throughout the day.
The NYU men opened the invitational with a dominant 21–6 victory over Lafayette College, claiming foil (8–1), epee (6–3), and saber (7–2). NYU then faced a pair of nationally - competitive programs in Duke University and host Penn. The Violets fell to Duke, 18–9, before dropping a 16–11 decision to Penn despite earning a win in epee (5–4). The men rebounded later in the day with a 15–12 win against NJIT, earning victories in foil (6–3) and epee (6–3) while dropping saber (6–3). NYU secured its third win of the day with a narrow 14–13 decision over Haverford College, taking saber (7–2) while conceding foil (6–3) and epee (5–4).
The NYU women opened the invitational against Cornell University, falling 21–6. The Violets later faced Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania, falling 19–8 and 22–5, respectively. Against Duke, NYU won in epee (5–4) but dropped foil (7–2) and saber (8–1). NYU closed out the day with strong performances against NJIT and Haverford College, earning victories of 19–8 and 23–4, respectively. Against NJIT, the Violets claimed foil (6–3), saber (7–2), and epee (6–3). NYU capped the invitational with a dominant showing against Haverford, sweeping foil (9–0), saber (8–1), and epee (6–3).
Vincent Hong led the men's saber squad with eight victories on the day, while Jerry Pan added five wins. In foil, Farr Dickson paced the lineup with six victories, while Jordan Macarty anchored the epee group with a 6–2 record.
On the women's side, Audrey Shitamoto led the foil squad with eight victories. Lily Papadakis paced the epee lineup with an 8–4 record, while Zara Sinha added a strong 3–1 performance in saber.
"It was a decent day overall," said Head Coach Ben Bratton. "Duke and Penn presented real challenges, and while we would have liked to do better in those matches, I was very pleased with the performances from athletes who don't usually see time in the rotation."
The men improved to 7–0 on the season, while the women now stand at 8–6, competing in their first meet since the holiday break following the Sacred Heart Invitational.
Both squads return to action at the Eric Sollee Invitational on Saturday, January 31, hosted by Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.
