Despite lacking recognition as a varsity squad, both Dartmouth's men's and women's fencing had strong showings against varsity rivals.
"We have some really good fencers on the team," Stephanie Han '11 said. "They could totally beat the varsity people on other teams, but we basically have to coach ourselves."
Han is a member of The Dartmouth staff.
Indeed, the disadvantage of competing as a club team -- fencing lost its varsity status in the 1970s -- seems hard to overcome. The team struggles to find funds, athletes and time and space to practice.
"We're working towards becoming varsity again," Han said. "[Meanwhile] we're working on getting funds to hire a coach."
While the men's fencing team came in eighth of 13 teams overall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst was the only club team to finish above Dartmouth.
"Two of our three weapons are really solid," co-captain Franklin Rea '08 said. "Saber and epee are really solid; foil is in a building year."
Rea made an impressive showing in the men's individual saber, earning third place with victories in nine of 12 bouts.
Dartmouth demonstrated its strength in saber delivering a third-place ranking in the A section, sixth place in the B section, and second in the C section of fencing.
Andrew Young '09 won seven of 12 bouts in the B section of saber and Graham Healy-Day '11 made an impressive showing with 10 victories in 11 bouts.
Healy-Day, one of very few Dartmouth competitors with prior fencing experience, actually tied the first place C saber fencer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology but made fewer touches and settled for second place.
"We're really proud of him," co-captain Caroline Lee '08 said.
The Dartmouth men had more difficulty making touches in foil due to a young and inexperienced foil squad.
"Men's foil has a particularly young squad. They did well," Lee said. "They have a lot of room to improve."
Dartmouth's men's squad earned seventh places in both B and C epee.
Ben Beckerman '10 defeated varsity squad competitors from Brandeis and totaled six victories, placing him seventh in B epee. Kyle Davis '09 delivered five wins for Dartmouth in C epee also earning seventh.
The women's squad finished as the top club team in New England for the second straight year.
"It was a good reaffirmation that we were still strong," Rea said.
Impressively, the Dartmouth women delivered 57 victories in the 115 bouts, placing them on par with many of the tournament's varsity squads.
Lee had an impressive performance in the individual women's foil, placing 10th out of the 42 foil contestants.
"[Lee] has never fenced before [her freshman year]," Rea said. "Here she is, senior year, making finals."
Lee was the only Dartmouth competitor that placed above the bottom two in an A section competition, claiming sixth place in foil with seven victories in 12 bouts.
Kristen Klepac '10 picked up just one victory of 13 bouts in A section epee, and classmate Eliza Varner '10 earned two victories in A section saber.
Saber competitors, Hathairat Sawaengsri '10 and Ariela Anhalt '11, performed well, earning sixth in B and C sections, respectively, after defeating eight opponents.
The foil competitors performed the best overall for Dartmouth women's fencing, claiming two sixth-place finishes and a fifth-place finish.
Jessica Wheeler '10 claimed fifth above varsity competitors from Vassar and Sacred Heart in B section individual foil with nine wins in 13 bouts.
Han also out-fenced the varsity C section foil squad member from Sacred Heart and tied Vassar's sophomore fencer Sadi Rebsch for sixth, winning eight of 13 bouts.
Janill Espaillat '10 won six of 13 bouts, coming in eighth in B section epee and Alden Dilanni-Morton '11 tacked on eight wins in C section epee, claiming seventh. Both defeated varsity squad fencers from Boston College and Brandeis.
Despite losing three seniors next year, the team hopes to maintain its dominance of the club fencing circuit.
"By the time the '10s are seniors they'll have an amazing squad, and they'll be huge," Lee said.
Overall, both teams believe their competitive showing in the New England Championships will help fencing to regain varsity recognition at the College.
"I think this tournament shows a rising trend in our fencing," Lee said. "It shows we can succeed as a club team and do deserve any money and support that the College can give us."
