• Columbia (28-5) finished atop the IFA women's epee standings, a comfortable five points in front of runner-up Penn (23), followed by Cornell (23), Yale (21), Princeton (19), Brandeis (17), MIT (17) and Harvard (16). The Lions were missing a pair of top epeeists – Tess Finkel (3rd-place Ivy League finisher in '09) and Martyna Urbanowicz – but their presence would not have significantly affected Columbia's final team score (since the Lions won all but five of their 33 bouts). Such can not be said for Princeton or Harvard. The Tigers could have used the boost in win total that likely would have come through the presence of senior All-American Jasjit Bhinder (the defending IFA champion) and freshman Susannah Scanlan (who was the '09 Ivy League runner-up). Harvard freshman Noam Mills also missed the 2009 IFAs, one week after wrapping up a near-perfect record (17-1) in the Ivy League round-robin.
• Columbia's impressive women's epee trio included Neely Brandfield-Harvey (8-3), Orianna Isaacson (11-0) and Ariana Warr (9-2), who combined to deliver the program's fourth IFA women's epee title (first since '04). Brandfield-Harvey went on to win the women's epee title (first Columbia fencer to do so since '96), after earning the #2 seed into the 16-fencer DE. She went on to post wins over 15th-seeded Warr (15-8), Princeton's Chandler Clay (#7) in a 15-12 quarterfinal, #3 Caitlin Kozel (Brandeis) in a 15-7 semifinal, and finally Harvard veteran Maria Larrson in an exciting 15-13 title bout.
• All of the top-8 DE seeds won their round-of-16 bouts, while their was one minor upset in the quarterfinals – when Larsson defeated #4 Stephanie Wheeler (15-9). Larsson went on to knocked off top-seeded Rebecca Moss of Yale in the semifinals (15-12) before losing the final bout by a two-point margin.
• The other two quarterfinals went to the higher-seeded fencers, with Moss besting Cornell's Katherine Thompson (#8) in a 15-12 bout, while Cozel defeated Princeton's Chandler Clay (#7) by the same score.
IFA Women's Epee Round-of-16
(1) Rebecca Moss (Yale) def. (16) Tasha Garcia (Yale) ... 15-13
(2) Neely Brandfield-Harvey (COL) def. (15) Ariana Warr (COL) ... 15-8
(3) Caitlin Kozel (BRAN) def. (14) Krisin Hughes (Penn) ... 15-6
(4) Stephanie Wheeler (Penn) def. (13) Lauren Clark (PRIN) ... 15-12
(5) Maria Larsson (HARV) def. (12) Kate Anthony (Penn) ... 15-11
(6) Sophie Courser (VAS) def. (11) Sallie Dietrich (COR) ... 15-10
(7) Chandler Clay (PRIN) def. (10) Kirsten Hessler (MIT) ... 15-13
(8) Katherine Thompson (COR) def. (9) Oriana Isaacson (COL) ... 15-13
Quarterfinals
(1) Rebecca Moss (Yale) def. (8) Katherine Thompson (COR) ... 15-12
(2) Neely Brandfield-Harvey (COL) def. (7) Chandler Clay (PRIN) ... 15-12
(3) Caitlin Kozel (BRAN) def. (6) Sophie Courser (VAS) ... 15-13
(5) Maria Larsson (HARV) def. (4) Stephanie Wheeler (Penn) ... 15-9
Semifinals
(5) Maria Larsson (HARV) def. (1) Rebecca Moss (Yale) ... 15-12
(2) Neely Brandfield-Harvey (COL) def. (3) Caitlin Kozel (BRAN) ... 15-7
Final
(2) Neely Brandfield-Harvey (COL) def. (5) Maria Larsson (HARV) ... 15-13
2009 IFA Women's Epee Final Top-16 Data (field of 40)
1. Neely Brandfield-Harvey (COL) ... #2 DE seed ... 9-2 in flight-A (+29)
2. Maria Larsson (HARV) ... #5 DE seed ... 6-5 in flight-A (+1)
3. Rebecca Moss (Yale) ... #1 DE seed ... 6-5 in flight-A (E)
3. Caitlin Kozel (BRAN) ... #3 DE seed ... 7-4 in flight-B (+11)
5. Stephanie Wheeler (Penn) ... #4 DE seed ... 7-4 in flight-A (+1)
6. Sophie Courser (VAS) ... #6 DE seed ... 10-1 in flight-B (+26)
7. Chandler Clay (PRIN) ... #7 DE seed ... 9-1 in flight-C (+21)
8. Katherine Thompson (COR) ... #8 DE seed ... 8-2 in flight-C (+20)
9. Oriana Isaacson (COL) ... #9 DE seed ... 7-4 in flight-A (+15)
10. Kirsten Hessler (MIT) ... #10 DE seed ... 7-4 in flight-A (+9)
11. Sallie Dietrich (COR) ... #11 DE seed ... 6-5 in flight-A (+5)
12. Kate Anthony (Penn) ... #12 DE seed ... 5-6 in flight-A (-4)
13. Lauren Clark (PRIN) ... #13 DE seed ... 9-2 in flight-B (+27)
14. Kristen Hughes (Penn) ... #13 DE seed ... 9-2 in flight-B (+24)
15. Ariana Warr (COL) ... #15 DE seed ... 7-4 in flight-B (+4)
16. Tasha Garcia (Yale) ... #16 DE seed ... 7-3 in flight-C (+17)
2009 IFA Women's Epee Final Team Standings
1. Columbia 28-5 (+64) ... Neely Brandfield-Harvey 8-3, Orianna Isaacson 11-0, Ariana Warr 9-2
2. Pennsylvania 23-10 (+48) ... Stephanie Wheeler 7-4, Kate Anthony 7-4, Kristen Hughes 9-2
3. Cornell 23-10 (+28) ... Katherine Thompson 4-0, Tasha Hall 4-0, Sallie Dietrich 8-2, Christine Wilkinson 7-4
4. Yale 21-12 (+25) ... Rebecca Moss 8-3, Abigail Fraeman 4-6, Lindsay Dow 0-1, Tasha Garcia 9-2
5. Princeton 19-14 (+10) ... Chandler Clay 5-6, Lauren Clark 7-4, Jo-Ann Karshon 7-4
6. Brandeis 17-16 (+6) ... Caitlin Kozel 7-4, Emma Larkin 5-6, Emily Madel 4-4, Raquel Bubar 1-2
7. MIT 17-16 (+2) ... Stephanie Shin 3-8, Kirsten Hessler 8-3, Sophie Monahan 6-5
8. Harvard 16-17 (+4) ... Maria Larsson 7-4, Lisa Vastola 5-6, Sarah Rosenberg-Wohl 3-2, Elizabeth Bast 1-5
9. Boston College 13-20 (-10) ... Heather Ciganek 3-8, Ali LeTendre 5-6, Samantha Pirk 5-6
10. Vassar 12-21 (-22) ... Sophie Courser 7-4, Maryl Franklin 2-9, Veronica Weser 3-8
11. Brown 6-27 (-66) ... Chloe Fandel 3-8, Bridget Smith 3-8, Sarah Lu 0-11
12. NYU 3-30 (-89) ... Joann Reyes 0-11, Sheila Germain 1-10, Amy Alken 2-9