MONTGOMERY: MHS girls fencing off to a perfect start

Healthy Ramaswamy aids Cougars

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   Make know mistake about it, Anjalie Ramaswamy loves fencing.
   Last year, when she suffered a right wrist injury that looked like it would keep her out of the lineup she did the only logical thing to keep fencing — she switched to her left hand.
   ”I sprained my wrist and it was horrible,” the Montgomery junior said. “I didn’t want to miss so I switched and started to fence lefty. It didn’t go as well as I wanted it to. It was frustrating.”
   Ramaswamy missed portions of the season with the injury and didn’t get back to full strength until April.
   ”I didn’t know what I would do without fencing,” she said. “They started the team here my freshman year and it has been great to be a part of it. And now this year we’re doing so well, it is exciting. I’m really surprised. We’re winning matches against good caliber teams. We have so many good people on our team now.”
   Last Thursday, the Cougars topped West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 18-9, to improve to 6-0 on the season. After winning just three matches last year, Montgomery has already doubled its total this year.
   ”We’re very excited,” Montgomery coach Johanna Snedeker said. “We knew we would be better, but I don’t know if we thought we would be as strong as we have been so far this season. Having Ambika Singh has been a big factor. She has come in and been a real nice addition for us.”
   In the win over WW-P South, Ramaswamy was 3-0 in sabre and Singh was 3-0 in foil. The Cougars also received two wins apiece from Laura Resnick and Sarah Sheldon in sabre, Nina Kuzman in foil and Sarah Caputo in epee. For the Pirates, Brianne Nieradka was 3-0 in epee and Sharon Gao won two of her three foil matches.
   In the boys meet, WW-P South emerged with a 19-8 win. Alex Gou was 3-0 in sabre to lead the Pirates.
   For the Montgomery girls, a 6-0 start is well beyond expectations. Adding Singh, who was undefeated in just over a year of fencing at The Hun School before transferring to Montgomery, has been a big help. Having a healthy Ramaswamy has also helped.
   ”Anjalie was injured most of last year,” Snedeker said. “This year she is 100 percent and that has made a big difference. Even when she was hurt last year she would go out and give it her best. She had an injured wrist but she would still go out and fence left-handed. She was still reasonably effective. She tried her best, but she didn’t have the natural strength of her right hand.
   ”Having her back at full strength and having Ambika has made a big difference.”
   The Cougars have just two seniors on their roster this year, Kuzman and Margaret Strair. With an improving group of young fencers, the sky seems to be the limit for the program.
   ”I want to see us win most of our meets, if not keep our undefeated record,” said Ramaswamy, who practices with Mr. Ma Fencing in Hillsborough. “We’re accomplishing things we’ve never done before. We seem to be improving all the time. Last year we had a ton of seniors and this year we have a lot of new people who are doing well.”
   It also helps to have Ramaswamy back fencing the right way, with her right arm. She’s put a lot of time into the sport and having her team at Montgomery perform this well has been a bonus.
   ”I’ve been practicing at my club four days a week,” Ramaswamy said. “I’ve also been doing a lot of tournaments. I go to the North American Cup and Summer Nationals. I just try to keep improving. And our team is doing great so far this year.”
   For Ramaswamy and her teammates, everything seems to be working out just right.