Sunday, February 5, 2016, the SEM fencing team traveled to Syracuse to participate in the Syracuse University Spring Open. Here is how they did!

Melanie (Mel) Tunkey ’18 fenced foil in her first tournament as a SEM student though she had fenced in middle school for a year. “When I transferred to SEM, I saw that we had a fencing team and I got excited to try it again. Wes, our coach, made it such a great experience because I really believe that he is great coach.”

Mel finished in 23 out of 28 participants in the foil division.

Olivia Miller ’17 is a returning epee fencer to the SEM team who is proud of how she did despite not winning. ” I did not place super well, but my technique was awesome,” she said. “I fenced a guy in 9th place and I was 24th. I lost 13-15. It was close.”

Amber (Xinyang) Ye’17 a returning epee fencer described the tournament as difficult but not daunting, as it had college-level competitors. “Thirty-seven fencers fenced in the tournament. There are many really skilled clubs near by with competitive fencers. We as a group were not really intimidated. We tried our best which showed good sportsmanship. I did my best. But I feel like there is room for improvement,” she said.

The next fencing tournament is at SEM on Saturday, February 25.