At the beginning of the fencing season, with the amount of new faces joining the program and talented seniors leaving, it was questionable how good the fencing team would be. Despite these odds, Coach Brian Cromwell took control early on and found success in their first year with a winning 4-2 record. Coach Brian remarked, “My initial thoughts on the team were that the players all seemed to be genuinely nice people. They were supportive and encouraging of each other from day one.”
This hopeful outlook was effective for all the fencers, especially sophomore Carter Malin, who noted tremendous growth as the season progressed, junior Sohah Kulkarni, who had an exceptional comeback in the Prep B tournament, and sophomore Leon Zhang, who boasted an outstanding undefeated record by the end of the regular season.
Looking to the future, Zhang stated, “I want to limit the number of close matches between myself and the opponent, as well as achieve more in the post-season matches and tournaments.” Zhang also noted that both captains, junior Rohan Shah and senior Greta Yuan, had done a remarkable job showing the newer and younger players the fundamentals and introducing them to basic mechanics. Over the course of the season, they possessed impactful teaching skills and showed immense support for their teammates.
Though players overall thought the program could improve over this upcoming off-season by engaging less experienced players in more comprehensive practices, the future looks bright for next year. The team is young, and as more leaders and hard-working players emerge, there is no doubt that the fencing program can travel great lengths in the seasons to come.
