When trying to come up with a way to describe this weekend's Ivy League meet, junior All-American Ron Berkowsky said it best.
"This is the most important meet of the year."
Both the men's and women's fencing teams will compete in the first of two Ivy League weekends, in which they will eventually play a total of six other Ivy League teams. This weekend, they are set to fence Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, and Yale, all at Hutchinson Gym.
Coach Dave Micahnik believes that both teams will have to play their best in order to win. The men's team goes in with a record of 9-4 and the women finished up their non-league schedule at an impressive 13-2, only losing to St. John's and Penn State, two of the top teams nationally.
Penn's biggest threats are Columbia and Harvard, the defending national champions. Both teams know that they will have to fence an almost flawless meet in order to come out on top of the Lions and Crimson.
"Going into this weekend we definitely know we have our hardest competition coming up, especially with Columbia and Harvard," said Berkowsky.
Sophomore foilist Abby Emerson had a similar opinion.
"Although Harvard lost some of their top performers from last year, they have a very good team and you can never count them out," she said. "Columbia is just as solid as they were last year."
A sense of urgency can be noticed throughout the teams, and it starts at the top with the head coach.
"Everybody gets up for the Ivy League. If you beat them it's because you beat them, not because they lie down," Micahnik said. "The league is tough. Every single bout will be highly contested. There is no such thing as an easy Ivy League meet."
Emerson also knows the difference between this meet and other non-league meets.
"Adrenaline is a lot more important with the Ivy league meets. With other meets, it takes a little more to get going. With the Ivy League weekend, you know that you will get up for every meet," stated Emerson.
Just because everyone knows the importance of this weekend does not mean they have any doubts about how they can perform.
Emerson is looking forward to competing this weekend with her team as well.
"I think we have a really good shot. We didn't lose any of our fencers and we gained some important freshmen, so we should be better prepared this year," she said.
As for fencing against Harvard and Columbia? The result is up in the air.
"You don't fence on paper. The score is still 0-0 when the bout starts. If we get off to a good start and keep our focus, get every possible touch, we've got a shot," said Micahnik.
