The Columbia fencing team is going to be shorthanded this weekend for its first collegiate meet of the 2008 season. Shorthanded, however, is a relative term when you are talking about last season’s third-place finishing team at the NCAA championships.
Saturday’s NYU dual meet puts the Lions up against some of the nation’s best programs, including Ohio State, Notre Dame, St. John’s, and Northwestern, but without some of its top fencers.

“We have two fencers, NCAA champion Daria Schneider and Dwight Smith, who are currently attempting to qualify for the Olympics,” head coach George Kolombatovich said. “Another student is finalizing his United States citizenship, and we have four others competing in World Cup events. They are out there with our full blessing and support, and this also allows some other fencers an opportunity to compete.”

After graduating All-Americans last season in almost every weapon, the Lions will look to some of their new freshmen as well as seasoned veterans this weekend. On the women’s side, newcomers Martyna Urbanowicz, Abby Caparros, Nicole Ross, and Jackie Jacobson will most likely start for the team, highlighting the youth movement. Jacobson is the younger sister of All-American, former Olympian, and current senior Emily Jacobson. For the men, only one freshman, Trevis Joyner, joins the team and will make his first collegiate appearance as well on Saturday.

“There are only four starters this year who are seniors and the rest are underclassmen, so it is very important for us to have the younger team members compete well early and adjust to collegiate-style fencing,” Kolombatovich said.

Unlike individual fencing—such as the North American Cup last weekend, where sophomore Kurt Getz took silver in the junior division foil competition and Ross placed eighth in the senior division epee tournament—collegiate fencing requires a different attitude than going all-out in each bout. Each collegiate match has 27 bouts, nine per weapon and three per fencer, meaning that energy must be conserved throughout the day as each participant will fight an average of 12 to 15 times over the course of a few hours. While the hope is to win each bout, the magic number is 14 in each match, and that is the primary goal for every member of the team.

Despite missing key members of the team for tomorrow’s competition, the outlook remains the same.

“I expect the younger members to step up and the veterans to continue doing what they have done in the past,” Kolombatovich said. “While I don’t think we have the same depth as last year, we are going out there and going after it, and I expect good results.”