Most people – even fencers – think of fencing as an individual sport. When an athlete is standing on the piste, facing an opponent, she is out there alone.
But the Temple women’s fencing team has turned the sport into a team endeavor, unifying go on a recent hot streak and compiling a 16-1 season record.
To say the Owl fencers are good is an understatement.
Temple provided a prime example of its fencing excellence on Saturday at
McGonigle Hall in the Owls’ third home meet of the season.
Athletes from Stevens University, Hollins University, and John’s Hopkins University competed with Temple’s fencing team in a daylong, three-weapon meet. Whether or not any of the teams hoped to beat Temple, none of them did. The Owls won all but six of their 90 bouts throughout the day, winning every match in the epee, saber and foil.
At the start of the day Temple faced Hollins, while Stevens went up against John Hopkins. Temple came away with a resounding victory over Hollins, combining for a perfect three-weapon score of score of 27.
Stevens University, Temple’s second round opponent, won its match against John Hopkins. While the win over Hopkins wasn’t as impressive as Temple’s win over Hollin’s, it did set an interesting match-up between the two schools.
Stevens beat Hopkins with a combined team score of 18.
In the Temple Steven’s match, Temple again came away the victor, this time surrendering one on the 27 bouts for a winning score of 26-1.
The other second round match-up pitted the two first-round losers, Hollins and Johns Hopkins. Hopkins came away with the team win, 18-9.
In the final round of dual meets, Temple went up against John Hopkins, and Stevens went up against Hollins. To no one’s surprise, Temple came away with another victory, completing the sweep over all three teams present on Saturday.
Temple garnered a combined team score of 22 points, compared to Johns Hopkins’ five points.
In the end, the Temple epee squad increased their record to a perfect 17-0. Two stars from the epee squad, Julia Korony, and Stephanie Sargent, continued undefeated seasons. Temple’s foil squad finished undefeated on the day, impressively shutting out all of their opponents.
On the saber squad, Temple athletes Sakinah Saahid and Aziza Hassan finished undefeated on the day.
After the meet was over, the team held a clinic for local youths in conjunction with Black Women in Sports, An organization advocated by Temple professor Tina Sloan-Green.
“This is impacting the children in a positive way,” said Wendell Griffith, a spokesperson for Black Women in Sports. “They get to interact with the fencing team and ask questions about college athletics, why they came to college, who influenced you, etc.”
Overall, it was a positive day for the Owls, who nest travel across town to a meet at the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday.
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