By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Montgomery High girls fencing team wasn’t shy about the goals it set for itself at last weekend’s District 2 tournament.
“The seniors told me at the beginning of the season they wanted to take back districts,” Montgomery coach Johanna Snedeker said. “And so they did. It was an amazing day for Montgomery fencing as we celebrate our 10th season as a team. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls and the hard work they put in to achieve this amazing outcome.”
Facing a field of very talented teams, the Cougars won all three weapons titles on the way to capturing the overall team title at North Hunterdon. In the girls tournament, Montgomery was first in the three-weapon results, while West Windsor-Plainsboro South was third and WW-P North was fourth. Princeton finished 10th.
The Cougars picked up an individual title in the foil, where Laura Sun was first. The Cougars’ Niharika Chandrasekar was fifth and Elizabeth Tieu was sixth. Kathleen Louie of WW-P South finished eighth
“It was really nice,” Sun said of the Cougars’ dominating performance. “I think it might be one of the first times our team has won all three weapons. Our team had a really good day. We were all pretty happy with the way we fenced. I think we all lost just one bout in the initial round, which was exciting.”
In sabre, Montgomery was first, while North was second and South finished third. Brenda Yang of Montgomery finished second, while the Cougars’ Phoebe Lai was fifth and Helen Zhang was ninth. North’s Sophia Zhuang was third and Celine Demorre was fourth.
In epee, Montgomery was first, while South was third and North finished fourth. Nasya Hristov of Montgomery was second individually. Tianna Kowk of North was third and Madison Larkin of Montgomery was fourth. Anna Akkara of South was sixth, while Chloe Sofield of Montgomery was seventh and Kristina Khaw of North was eighth.
Montgomery is the top seed in the state team tournament and hopes to carry the momentum from districts into a strong performance in the tournament.
“I feel like we had a chance this year, especially for our foil squad,” said Sun, who started fencing when she was 10 and currently fencers for the Premier Fencing Club in South Brunswick. “We knew everyone had chance. We have states and then squads later which will be really fun.”
WW-P South and WW-P North also qualified for the team tournament. The South girls are the No. 12 seed and will fence at No. 5 Indian Hills. The Knights are seeded 16th and will host Teaneck with the winner facing Montgomery.
The Knights fared well at districts after a strong effort at the Santelli and Centrullo tournaments.
“We did pretty well at the district tournament,” North coach Richard Chang said. “The boys and girls epee both got first at the Cetrullo and Santelli and then at districts the boys for first again.”
The performance by the North boys epee was the top finish for Packet-area teams at the district tournament. The North boys were third in the three-weapon results, while South fifth, Montgomery seventh and Princeton 10th.
In epee, Wesley Yaun of South was first individually. North took the next two spots with Amit Sarma and William Zhang, while Prashant Baliga helped them win the team title.
In sabre, South was second, North fourth and Montgomery seventh. Derek Ge of South finished third, Frank Huang of South was sixth, and Raymond Zhang of North was seventh.
In foil, Montgomery was sixth, North seventh, South eighth and Princeton was ninth. Justin Cho of Montgomery was ninth.
“The epee was No. 1 at Santelli and No. 1 at districts and is now shooting for the state No. 1,” Chang said. “They performed extremely well.”
WW-P North is the 12th seed in the boys state tournament and will fence against No. 5 Morristown.
