The Northwestern University women’s fencing team is off to a strong start and recently a member of the team took eighth place at an international event.
The Memorial De Ferdinand De Martinengo competition was held in Bratislava, Slovakia in November and was a World Cup senior women’s foil competition. NU fencer Yvonne Chart, a junior, represented Great Britain at the competition. Chart hails from Truro, Cornwall in England. She reached the quarterfinals in women’s foil and was awarded one international competition ranking point.
Chart went 4-2 in the round robin first round, which was good enough to qualify for the round of 64, which was single elimination. In the round of 64, Chart defeated Adrianna Frackowiak of Poland, winning the bout 15-4. She won her next match and knocked Yana Andreyenka of Belarus out of the tournament to advance to the next round. In the round of 16, Chart defeated the Czech Republic’s Andrea Bimova, who was ranked in the top-100 in the world.
After three-straight wins in the knockout rounds of the tournament, Chart fell to Marina Calugareanu of Germany. The bout was close, with Calugareanu claiming a narrow 13-12 win over Chart. Calugareanu is ranked 72nd in the world in senior women’s foil.
Chart has been one of the strongest members of Northwestern’s team so far this season and has an overall record of 12-3. Another key member of the Wildcat’s fencing team this season is Sarah Filby, who recently reached the quarterfinals at a Junior World Cup event in Havana, Cuba, in December.
Filby finished round robin play with a 3-2 record. In the first round, Filby earned wins over Annie Lin, Tianji Lukins and Ivett Giron Vega. In the round of 32, Filby won a close bout over Arays Cordero by a score of 11-10. In the next round, Filby faced off against Lydia Casillas. Casillas defeated Filby in round robin play, but Filby was able to get revenge, knocking Casillas out of the tournament with a 15-14 victory to book a place in the quarterfinals. Casillas finished the first round with a 5-0 record and was ranked 12th in the world in junior women’s foil.
After two narrow wins, Filby’s tournament came to an end in the quarterfinals when she fell to Ying Cao by a score of 15-10.
Filby’s performance at the tournament helped her crack the top 100 junior women’s foil fencers in the world.
Overall, Northwestern is enjoying a successful season and the team has an overall record of 13-3, and at the time of publication, are on a 10-match winning streak. Currently, the Wildcats are on the verge of cracking the top-10 collegiate fencing teams.
After the winter break, Northwestern will be back in action Friday, Jan. 5, when the Wildcats take part in the North American Cup at Virginia Beach, Virginia. A key match-up on the schedule is a Saturday, Jan. 20 dual against the University of Pennsylvania, who is currently ranked sixth in the nation. On Saturday, Feb. 3, the Wildcats will host the NU Duals, which will be the last dual before the Midwest Fencing Championship, which will be held Saturday, Feb. 24 in Columbus, Ohio. The NCAA Regional Tournament will get underway on Saturday, March 10 and the NCAA Tournament will begin on Thursday, March 22.
For more information on the Northwestern fencing team, visit www.nusports.com.
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