The Brandeis fencing team, fresh off meeting and practicing with
Olympian Tim Morehouse '00 the day before, produced three gold
medals and three silvers of their own at the 2008 New England
Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Invitational.
The best single performance for the Judges came in the men's epee,
where Brandeis juniors Alex Clos (Arlington,
Mass.) and Will Bedor (Rego Park, N.Y.) took first
and second place. Clos was just 3-3 in pool competition, but won
six straight matches in direct elimination play, including a 15-13
win over the #3 seed and a 15-13 win over #4 seed Bedor in the
finals. Bedor was undefeated until meeting his teammate, going 6-0
in pool play and winning his first five direct elimination matches.
Bedor was undefeated until meeting his teammate, going 6-0 in pool
play and winning his first five direct elimination matches. Senior
All-American Will Friedman (Newton, Mass.) was the
runner-up in the foil competition. Friedman was 5-0 in pool play
with a +22 differential, earning the top seed in the
direct-elimination bouts. Until the finals, his toughest bout was
in the first round, when he took a 15-12, decision. Friedman fell
to a fencer from Brown, 15-12, in the championship match.
On the women's side, Brandeis had competitors reach the finals in
all three disciplines. Sophomores Anna Hanley
(Medford, Mass.) and Emma Larkin (Montclair, N.J.)
won the saber and epee competitions, while senior Jessica
Newhall (E. Falmouth, Mass.) was runner-up in the foil.
Hanley went undefeated in the meet, going 6-0 in pool play and
defeating her opponents by a combined 25 points to earn the top
seed in the elimination tournament. She then defeated the
tournament's third seed, 15-14, in the finals to earn the win.
Larkin was 5-0 in pool play to earn the fourth seed in the
elimination tournament, winning the title over the 11th seed by a
15-13 score. Newhall also captured the top seed with a 6-0
performance and +28 differential. She won three of her four direct
elimination bouts by at least nine touches and earned a walkover in
another before falling to the third seed from MIT in the finals,
15-8.
For their efforts, Bedor, Clos, Hanley and Larkin all claimed UAA
Fencer of the Week honors.