Thanks go out to fencing statistician extraordinaire David Sapery for passing along statistical data from part-1 of the Ivy League Round-Robin Championships (held Feb. 8, at Columbia). CollegeFencing360 has crunched some of the numbers and produced this in-depth look at the Ivy League teams, from the perspective of each specific weapon. As you can see, some weapons are a clear strength for certain teams while other weapons can prove to be a costly weakness in round-robins and other team tournament settings.
Despite the absence of All-American Daria Schneider (who was competing overseas at a World Cup event), the Columbia women's sabre squad combined for the best win pct. (.778; 28-8) of any weapon group at the Feb. 8 Ivy League meet. The freshman duo of Sammy Roberts and Stephanie Aiuto each went 10-2 against the sabre teams from #5 Harvard, #9 Penn, Yale and Brown, while All-American Jackie Jacobson was 8-4.
The third-ranked Columbia women featured another impressive weapon group at the Ivy League meet, as junior Tess Finkel (8-1), freshman Neely Brandfeld-Harvey (9-3), senior Oriana Isaacson (5-1) and sophomore Martyna Urbanowicz (4-5) combined to win nearly 75 percent of their epee bouts (26-10; .722). The Harvard women's foilist – led by Olympian Emily Cross (11-1) – also compiled a 26-10 Ivy League record. In addition to the fifth-year Cross (the '05 NCAA champion), the Harvard foil contingent at the Ivy League meet also included juniors Anna Podolsky (5-3) and Arielle Pensler (5-4), both of whom competed in the 2008 NCAAs, along with freshman Shelby MacLeod (5-2).
The Harvard women's epee team similarly racked up the wins on Feb. 8 (25-11; .694), led by the freshman/senior duo of Israeli Olympian Noam Mills (11-1) and All-American Maria Larsson (10-2).
Here's a look at some of the best weapon groups from the Ivy League Round-Robin (followed by additional lists breaking down each team's weapon records):
TOP WEAPON GROUPS – IVY LEAGUE ROUND-ROBIN (Part-1; Feb. 8)
Columbia Women's Sabre (.778; 28-8) ... Sammy Roberts 10-2, Stephanie Aiuto 10-2, Jackie Jacobson 8-4
Penn Men's Sabre (.741; 20-7) ... Jonathan Berkowsky 8-1, Andrew Bielen 7-2, Anders Eiremo 5-3, George Igoe 0-1 (top three 20-6/.769)
Harvard Women's Foil (.722; 26-10) ... Emily Cross 11-1 , Anna Podolsky 5-3, Shelby MacLeod 5-2, Arielle Pensler 5-4
Columbia Women's Epee (.722; 26-10) ... Tess Finkel 8-1 , Oriana Isaacson 5-1, Neely Brandfield-Harvey 9-3, Martyna Urbanowicz 4-5
Harvard Women's Epee (.694; 25-11) ... Noam Mills 11-1, Maria Larsson 10-2, Lisa Vastola 4-7, Elizabeth Bast 0-1 (top three 25-10/.714)
Penn Men's Foil (.667; 18-9) ... Alex Simmons 6-3, Vidur Kapur 6-3, Zane Grodman 6-3
Princeton Men's Foil (.667; 12-6) ... Alexander Mills 6-0, Clayton Flanders 4-2, Gregory Kirschen 2-2, Marcus Howard 0-2
Columbia Men's Sabre (.639; 23-13) ... Jeff Spear 11-1, Alex Rudnicki 8-4, Trevis Joyner 4-8
Princeton Women's Foil (.630; 17-10) ... Lucile Jarry 9-0, Andrea Oliva 4-3, Karen Petsche 2-3, Rocky Rothenberg 2-4
Yale Men's Epee (.593; 16-11) ... Michael Pearce 9-0, Thomas Bell 5-4, Alexander Cohen 2-7
Harvard Men's Epee (.593; 16-11) ... Benji Ungar 6-0, Karl Harmenberg 6-3, James Hawrot 3-6, Wesley Talcott 1-2
Ivy League Women's Teams (weapon group won-loss records)
Columbia 10-2 ... foil 3-1, epee 3-1, sabre 4-0
Harvard 8-4 ... foil 3-1, epee 4-0, sabre 1-3
Princeton 6-3 ... foil 3-0, epee 2-1, sabre 1-2
Penn 4-5 ... foil 1-2, epee 1-2, sabre 2-1
Yale 3-6 ... foil 1-2, epee 1-2, sabre 1-2
Cornell 3-6 ... foil 1-2, epee 1-2, sabre 1-2
Brown 2-10 ... foil 0-4, epee 0-4, sabre 2-2
Women's Foil
Princeton 3-0
Harvard 3-1
Columbia 3-1
Penn 1-2
Yale 1-2
Cornell 1-2
Brown 0-4
Women's Epee
Harvard 4-0
Columbia 3-1
Princeton 2-1
Penn 1-2
Yale 1-2
Cornell 1-2
Brown 0-4
Women's Sabre
Columbia 4-0
Penn 2-1
Brown 2-2
Princeton 1-2
Yale 1-2
Cornell 1-2
Harvard 1-3
Ivy League Men's Teams (weapon group won-loss records)
Penn 8-1 ... foil 3-0, epee 2-1, sabre 3-0
Columbia 8-4 ... foil 3-1, epee 2-2, sabre 3-1
Princeton 3-3 ... foil 1-1, epee 1-1, sabre 1-1
Harvard 3-6 ... foil 0-3, epee 2-1, sabre 1-2
Yale 3-6 ... foil 1-2, epee 2-1, sabre 0-3
Brown 2-7 ... foil 1-2, epee 0-3, sabre 1-2
Penn 3-0
Yale 1-2
Brown 1-2
Harvard 0-3
Men's Epee
Harvard 2-1
Penn 2-1
Yale 2-1
Columbia 2-2
Princeton 1-1
Brown 0-3
Men's Sabre
Penn 3-0
Columbia 3-1
Princeton 1-1
Harvard 1-2
Brown 1-2
Yale 0-3
TEAM BREAKDOWNS (by weapon)
WOMEN'S FOIL
Harvard (.722; 26-10) ... Emily Cross 11-1 , Anna Podolsky 5-3, Shelby MacLeod 5-2, Arielle Pensler 5-4
Princeton (.630; 17-10) ... Lucile Jarry 9-0, Andrea Oliva 4-3, Karen Petsche 2-3, Rocky Rothenberg 2-4
Columbia (.583; 21-15) ... Nicole Ross 9-3, Alex Huber 7-5, Abby Caparros-Janto 5-7
Penn (.482; 13-14) ... Diana Ark 1-0, Tamara Levy 1-0, Laura Paragano 5-4, Mia Howell 4-4 , Ilana Sinkin 2-6
Yale (.482; 13-14) ... Katharine Pitt 6-3, Valeria Makeeva 5-4, Lidia Gocheva 2-4, Jillian Liu 0-3
Cornell (.370; 10-17) ... Jessica Tranquada 5-4, Rebecca Hirschfeld 3-6, Dana Baines 2-4, Analise Peleggi 0-3
Brown (.222; 8-28) ... Francesca Bartholomew 5-4, Yukiko Kunitomo 2-8, Vivian Truong 1-11, Lyla Fujiwara 0-1 , Linda Zhang 0-4
WOMEN'S EPEE
Columbia (.722; 26-10) ... Tess Finkel 8-1 , Oriana Isaacson 5-1, Neely Brandfield-Harvey 9-3, Martyna Urbanowicz 4-5
Harvard (.694; 25-11) ... Noam Mills 11-1, Maria Larsson 10-2, Lisa Vastola 4-7, Elizabeth Bast 0-1
Pennsylvania (.555; 15-12) ... Jenna Stahl 1-0, Kathryn Anthony 5-3, Alexandra Kozyra 4-3, Stephanie Wheeler 5-4, Kristen Hughes 0-2
Princeton (.555; 15-12) ... Susannah Scanlan 8-1, Jasjit Bhinder 4-4, Chandler Clay 3-6, Lauren Clark 0-1
Cornell (.518; 14-13) ... Tasha Hall 6-3, Katherine Thompson 5-4, Sallie Dietrech 3-5, Kristin Wilkinson 0-1
Yale (.370; 10-17) ... Rebecca Moss 6-2, Kristin Saetveit 2-6, Abigail Fraeman 2-7, Tasha Garcia 0-2
Brown (.083; 3-33) ... Christina Salvatore 2-9, Bridget Smith 1-11, Angela Matsushita 0-2, Sarah Lu 0-5, Chloe Fandel 0-6
WOMEN'S SABRE
Columbia (.778; 28-8) ... Sammy Roberts 10-2, Stephanie Aiuto 10-2, Jackie Jacobson 8-4
Penn (.583; 15-12) ... Danielle Kamis 6-3, Dominika Franciskowicz 5-3, Alexis Baran 4-5, Noelle Tay 0-1
Harvard (.472; 17-19) ... Caroline Vloka 12-0, Hayley Levitt 3-9, Yunsoo Kim 2-10
Brown (.417; 16-20) ... Deborah Gorth 6-3, Charlotte Rose 3-3, Randy Alevi 4-5, Aleksandra Mackiewicz 3-9
Princeton (.417; 12-15) ... Bianca Cabrera Princeton 5-4, Lyuba Docheva 4-5, Caroline Merz 3-6
Cornell (.370; 10-17) ... Alex Heiss 8-1, Gwen Waichman 2-7, Alison Ewing 0-1, Allison Wollenberg 0-8
Yale (.370; 10-17) ... Jennifer Ivers 5-4, Katherine Arden 3-6, Farrah Kimovec 2-7
MEN'S FOIL
Penn (.667; 18-9) ... Alex Simmons 6-3, Vidur Kapur 6-3, Zane Grodman 6-3
Princeton (.667; 12-6) ... Alexander Mills 6-0, Clayton Flanders 4-2, Gregory Kirschen 2-2, Marcus Howard 0-2
Columbia (.583; 21-15) ... Sherif Farrag 9-3, Kurt Getz 7-5, Isaac Kim 5-7
Yale (.555; 15-12) ... John Gurrieri 5-2, Nathaniel Botwinick 4-2, Shiv Kachru 4-3, Andrew Holbrook 2-5
Brown (.407; 11-16) ... Adam Pantel 6-3, Nick Bender 2-4, Jonathan Yu 2-5, Scott Phillips 1-4
Harvard (.148; 4-23) ... Kai Itameri-Kinter 4-5, Benji Ungar 0-3, Hao Meng 0-6, Long Ouyang 0-9
MEN'S EPEE
Yale (.593; 16-11) ... Michael Pearce 9-0, Thomas Bell 5-4, Alexander Cohen 2-7
Harvard (.593; 16-11) ... Benji Ungar 6-0, Karl Harmenberg 6-3, James Hawrot 3-6, Wesley Talcott 1-2
Princeton (.555; 10-8) ... Graham Wicas 5-1, Cooper Gegan 4-2, Mike Elfassy 1-1, Nathaniel Sulat 0-4
Penn (.555; 15-12) ... Ben Wieder 6-3, Jacob Wischnia 5-4, Samuel Monk 4-5
Columbia (.472; 17-19) ... Dwight Smith 7-5, Max Czapanskiy 6-6, Lorenzo Casertano 3-6, Sean Leahy 1-2
Brown (.259; 7-20) ... Toby Cohen 1-0, Andrew Pintea 2-3, David Pagliaccio 2-4, Henry Liu 1-3, Adam Yarnell 1-8, Alexander DePaoli 0-2
MEN'S SABRE
Penn (.741; 20-7) ... Jonathan Berkowsky 8-1, Andrew Bielen 7-2, Anders Eiremo 5-3, George Igoe 0-1
Columbia (.639; 23-13) ... Jeff Spear 11-1, Alex Rudnicki 8-4, Trevis Joyner 4-8
Harvard (.482; 13-14) ... Valentin Staller 8-1, Scott DiGiulio 4-5, Hao Meng 1-2, Craig Gorin 0-6
Brown (.407; 11-16) ... Steven Ellis 5-4, Adam Zethraeus, 1-1, Peter Tyson 4-5, Elias Jaffa 1-6
Princeton (.389; 7-11) ... Craig Limoli 3-3, John Stogin 2-4, Thomas Abend 2-4
Yale (.259; 7-20) ... Sebastian Cano-Besquet 3-3, Adam Fields 3-6, Stephen Watty 1-6, Jonathan Holbrook 0-5