After carving through Thanksgiving turkeys, the Temple fencing team will travel to Fairleigh Dickinson University to slice their way through the Christmas Invitational.
The National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association, in its 75th year of existence, holds this annual individuals event for those with a classification C or lower.
The United States Fencing Association determines individual rankings through classification competitions. This time around, nine Owls will be competing, but the entire team will be on hand to offer support.
Captain Sara Forsythe and sophomore Jenna Remmert will watch from the sidelines as they are ineligible due to their rankings. Junior Amanda Gerwer and freshman Kaitlyn White are currently injured and will also miss the competition. Gerwer is recovering from knee surgery she underwent last year.
Coach Nikki Franke doesn’t want the team to focus on who won’t be active. Instead she believes this contest will be yet another stepping stone toward a successful run in the NCAA Finals in spring.
“We’ve been very successful in the past with this event,” Franke said. “We’re not going to worry about who’s not competing and just concentrate on gaining more experience.”
Franke wasn’t kidding when she said that the Owls have dominated this event. The current Owls that fought last year placed within the top 15 in each of their weapons.
The foil squad was the most successful with all placing in the top 10. Senior Nerita Brumell led the charge picking up gold as she took first place. Juniors Jeanne Browne and Nenna Okoro placed third and eighth, respectively, while sophomore Mary Ann Forsythe placed sixth.
Gerwer and sophomore Keri Ecker finished 13th and 15th in sabre, respectively.
In epee, senior Stephanie Sargent cut her way to second.
Steve Papurt can be reached at baby.gerald@verizon.net.
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