The revenge-minded Penn women's fencing team completely fulfilled its goals for this weekend, finishing second overall in the Intercollegiate Fencing Association invitational tournament last weekend.
Only trailing No. 1 St. John's, the Quakers defeated Princeton, Columbia, and Yale, the teams responsible for Penn's Ivy League losses.
Having lost two 14-13 heartbreakers this season, the Red and Blue came into the tourney aiming to redeem themselves and show that at their strongest, they were the best in the Ivy League.
Done and done.
"It is vindication," Penn captain Mindy Nguyen said. "It shows that we were the better team."
To add to the sweetness of Penn's team finish, the sabre squad came in third in the overall competition. Though they did not equal their second-place finish of last season, the sabreists came two wins out of 39 short from grabbing that spot. Still, this showing was impressive considering the increasing depth of the field.
"I think the caliber of fencing this year is harder," Kimberly Linton said.
Due to excellent individual performance in the teams section of the tournament, four Penn athletes were invited to compete in Sunday's individual competition. Sabreists Abby Lifter and Nguyen, foilist Emmanuelle Humblet and eppeist Linton found action on Sunday.
Linton finished sixth overall on Sunday. Nguyen won her first round bout, but removed herself from competition when tendonitis in her knee became inflamed. Consequently, she placed eighth in order to save her knees for this weekend's NCAA Regionals.
Previously this season, the Quakers had trouble closing out close bouts. Whereas before some players noted a lack of concentration as a flaw, this time the Red and Blue kept their poise throughout the weekend.
"We were very focused on the next bout we needed to fence," Rebecca Richman said. "We did our best to keep our energy high and we just kept going bout after bout with a good attitude."
Whatever happened, the women's fencing team feels relieved.
"I think that placing higher than [the other Ivy teams] here shows that we are stronger than them," Christina Verigan said. "It makes up for what happened in the season."
This weekend the Red and Blue will compete in the NCAA Regionals in Madison, N.J.
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