Pan EWFC Epee Fencer of the Year, Blue Fencing Takes Third
MADISON, N.J. - First year Michelle Pan (Arlington, Mass.) was the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference (EWFC) Epee Fencer of the Year as Wellesley College fencing finished third at the EWFC Championships at Drew University.
In addition to Pan winning the individual competition, the team went 5-1 taking third place overall in team competition. Epee squad took third overall behind Pan, 11 wins from classmate Grace Xu (Toronto, Ontario), eight wins from senior Kimberley Kimura (Los Angeles, Calif.), and a ninth place individual competition finish from first year Lily Millard (Selkirk, N.Y.), who made the EWFC All-Conference Second Team. Kimura was also named to EWFC All-Academic Team.
Foil squad earned second place with first year Gina Huang (Taipei, Taiwan) and senior Isabella Stewart (Scarsdsale, N.Y.) placing seventh and ninth in individual competition and both making the EWFC All-Conference Second Team. In team competition senior Alexia Gilioli (New York, N.Y.) scored 10 wins, while classmate Sejal Saxena (Chappaqua, N.Y.) notched eight.
Sabre squad narrowly missed the podium with a fourth place squad finish, but senior Hunter Dodrill (Boca Raton, Fla.) earned third in individual competition and was named EWFC All-Conference First Team. In team competition first year Sharon Huang (Toronto, Ontario) went a perfect 13-0 while Dodrill and sophomore Makana Burch (Portland, Ore.) both took eight wins.
Wellesley 17, Denison 10
Gilioli, Saxena, and junior Edith Po (Bernardsville, N.J.) all won two bouts for foil while Xu, Pan, and Kimura went undefeated in epee and S. Huang went 3-0 in sabre.
Wellesley 25, Hunter 2
Foil earned a 9-0 shutout with three wins from Gilioli, Po, and Saxena. Pan went 3-0 in epee with Kimura, Xu, and sophomore Elena Vona (Millstone, N.J.) all taking a win while Burch, Dodrill, and sophomore Mia Chao (Washington, D.C.) all won both of their sabre matches.
Wellesley 25, Yeshiva 2
Shutouts for Saxena, G. Huang, and Stewart in foil, Vona in epee, and Burch, Chao, and S. Huang in sabre while Pan and Millard both earned an epee win.
Wellesley 23, Haverford 4
Dodrill and S. Huang won their matches in sabre, as did Xu, Kimura, and Pan in epee and Po, G. Huang, and Stewart in foil.
Johns Hopkins 17, Wellesley 10
The Blue's only loss came to eventual champion JHU. Gilioli notched two foil wins, while Xu took a pair in epee, and S. Huang went a clean 3-0 in sabre for a competitive match.
Wellesley 20, Stevens 7
In the three-four playoff match, Wellesley out dueled Stevens in all three weapons. Burch, Dodrill, and S. Huang pulled off a 9-0 shutout in sabre, with Gilioli adding three more wins in foil and Xu winning all three in epee. G. Huang, Saxena, Kimura, and Pan rounded out the wins.
The Blue will host the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference (NEIFC) Championships next Saturday beginning at 9:00 AM.