Wellesley College Athletics

For Immediate Release
January 26, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information

Cornell University Takes 2008 Wellesley Invitational; Wellesley Places Second

WELLESLEY, MA – Cornell University went 4-0 to capture the 2008 Wellesley Fencing Invitational. The Big Red got victories over host Wellesley College, Hunter College, Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts to take the title.

The Wellesley Blue finished second on the day, only losing to Cornell for a 3-1 mark. Tufts finished with a 2-2 record, with wins over UMass and Hunter while Hunter went 1-3 and UMass finished 0-4.

For Wellesley, the foil team was an impressive 29-7 on the afternoon. Wendy Chin (New York, NY) led all Wellesley fencers with a 10-2 record while Hannah Braaten (Concord, MA) and Tess DeLean (St. Louis, MO) each picked up eight wins. Elizabeth Rowen (Santa Cruz, CA) also went 3-0 in foil.

In epee competition, the Blue were led by Emily Johnson (Pittstown, NJ) who compiled an 8-4 record on the day and Annmarie Kocab (Farmington Hills, MI) who finished with seven wins. Taysir Majmoud (Quincy, MA) wrapped up a strong showing in the weapon by winning all three of her bouts.

The Blue sabre team was led by senior Katie Kinnaird (Bethesda, MD) who picked up five wins on the afternoon and Crystal Aiken (Eden, NC) who recorded four victories. Kinnaird was honored before the start of today's invitational on "Senior Day." In addition to being named captain for the 2007-08 season, the four-year student-athlete has also been an active member of the campus community taking part in the Wellesley Widows acappella group and serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Leading the way for Cornell were Alex Heiss, Katherine Thompson and Jessica Tranquada. Heiss did not lose a bout to go 12-0 in sabre, Thompson posted a 9-0 mark in epee and Tranquada finished 11-1 in foil.

Top fencers for Tufts included Coryn Wolk (epee) and Christine Lee (foil) who both posted 10-2 records. In sabre, Alexandra Cheetham led all Jumbos' with six wins.

For Hunter, Amanda Birro finished the epee competition with a 7-5 record, Elizabeth Oliver picked up six wins in foil and Elizabeth Arce and Nicole Schirmer each notched seven wins in sabre.

Leading UMass fencers was Laura Brassard who finished with an impressive 11-1 record in sabre. Also a top fencer for the Minutemen, Carrie Roberts picked up four wins in foil.

Coming up, Wellesley will host the second Northeast Fencing Conference meet of the season. The meet will take place on February 9th in the Wellesely College Field House beginning at 8:00 am.