Brie Maurer was the top Wellesley finisher, taking ninth in foil (Frank Poulin).
Brie Maurer was the top Wellesley finisher, taking ninth in foil (Frank Poulin).

Maurer, Calventus-Coveney Lead Wellesley Fencing at NCAA Northeast Regional

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Junior Brie Maurer (Fredericksburg, Va.) took 9th overall in foil and sophomore Julia Calventus-Coveney (Barcelona, Spain) finished 12th overall in epee to lead Wellesley College fencing at the 2019 NCAA Northeast Regional, hosted by Columbia University on Sunday at Vassar College.

Sunday's regional consisted of four rounds of elimination pools in foil, epee, and sabre. The Blue had ten total participants: three in foil, four in epee, and three in sabre.

Foil

Maurer advanced to the final pool in foil for the second straight season, opening the day as the 24th seeded foil fencer before finishing ninth overall. Maurer was 3-3 with a - 2 touch ratio in round two to advance to round three. She then posted a 3-3 (-1) mark in round three to earn a spot in the final pool of 12 fencers. After going 1-10 in last season's final pool, Maurer was 4-7 in the 11-bout round this season, finishing as the top fencer from a Division III school with 4-7 (-16) record. 

Sophomore Molly McLachlan (Chapel Hill, N.C.) added a 24th place finish in foil, going undefeated, 4-0 (+10), in round one before concluding her day in round two with a 2-4 (-9) record in round two. Classmate Lucille Tsao (Succasunna, N.J.) was 32nd in foil. Tsao was 3-1 (+2) in round one and 1-5 (-18) in round two.

Epee

Calventus-Coveney opened action as the 20th seed, finishing 2-2 with a +5 touch ratio in the first round. She advanced to round two, posting a 2-4 (+3) record to move on to round three. In round three, Calventus-Coveney earned four wins in six bouts (+4) to earn one of 12 spots in the regional final pool for the first time in her career. Calventus-Coveney went winless, 0-11 (-24) in the final pool, but finished as top Division III epee fencer at the regional.

Senior captain Cassandra Cronin (Johns Creek, Ga.) was the highest finisher among the three remaining Wellesley epee fencers. Cronin was 29th overall, going 2-2 (+1) in round one before ending the day with a 1-5 (-10) record in round two. First year Sam Wolstenholme-Britt (Cary, N.C.) added a 35th place finish, fencing to a 2-2 (+5) record in the opening pool before ending the day with an 0-6 (-22) record in round two. Classmate Panya Tang (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) tied for 43rd with an 0-4 (-9) mark in round one.  

Sabre

The Blue earned two of the top-20 spots in sabre. After finishing as the runner-up at last weekend's NEIFC Championships, first year Yasemin Ersen (Newton, Mass.) was 18th in sabre at Sunday's regional. Ersen was 4-2 (+7) in round two, advancing to round three where she posted a 1-5 (-14) record in round three. Sophomore Lauren Park (Wayne, N.J.) finished just behind her teammate, taking 20th overall. Park was an even 3-3 (-1) in round two and 1-5 (-16) in round three. First year Gaby Inchoco (Fairfield, Conn.) rounded out the Wellesley competitors on Sunday, taking 34th in sabre. Inchoco was 3-1 (+11) in round one but winless in round two. 

Wellesley ends the 2018-19 season with a program-best 23-5 record in team competitions, advancing 10 fencers to this year's NCAA Regional. The Blue also claimed the 3-Weapon title at the NEIFC Championships and earned four NFC All-Star selections.