History of the Program

Fencing at the Univerity of Florida goes back decades. The competitive side of the sport became more refined when Coach Bruce Capin took over the program in the fall of 1998. Since then, the team has been increasingly competing on the NCAA, regional, and national levels (Divisions 1, 1A, II, III of the United States Fencing Association). Many members of Florida Fencing strive to be increasingly competitive in national circles of fencing. The club has designated a specific membership class to support these members and their goals.

Recap of 2000-2001

To date, the men and women have earned a combined 36 medals at NCAA, regional, and national events. In addition, Florida has placed two fencers on the US National Squad from which the US Olympic Team is chosen; Viktor Mohacsy in men’s saber, and Clare Deming in women’s saber. In NCAA meets, Florida has competed at the University of North Carolina (1998), Notre Dame (2000), and Northwestern (2001). Both men’s and women’s teams scored their first overall victories against NCAA teams at Northwestern University in January 2001. The men beat Wayne State University and Cal State University - Fullerton, while the women defeated Cal State University - Fullerton, Johns Hopkins, Lawrence University, and James Madison. In competition among the strongest club teams (non NCAA), Florida established itself as a top program with wins over Michigan, Michigan State, and Army in dual meet competition and at the 2001 National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association’s Championships at Virginia Tech. The championship dates back to 1929, and is the oldest continuously contested championship for women in ANY sport. In the Southeast Sectional Championships, a Florida men’s saber fencer has won the individual title the past two of four years. Finally, in 2000-2001, three Gators; Zonnia Leong, Clare Deming, and Darby Proctor all medalled in US Cup events, making the 2000-01 competitive season the best yet.

2001 - 2002 Outlook

The Gators travel for dual meet competition to Harvard to take on the Crimson in a tri meet that also includes Cornell and NYU. University of New Hampshire hosts the Gators that same weekend along with matches against Dartmouth, Smith College, and UNMASS. It will be Florida’s first team competition against schools in New England. In addition, the women’s team will look to improve upon last year’s performance at the NIWFA (National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association) Championships to be held in March 2002. The bronze medal epee team returned it’s entire squad (Proctor, Cass, Titkemeier), and two of three saberists (Stinemire and Leong) have also returned. Last year, the Lady Gators took 3 medals, and finished third overall in the tem standings. It was UF’s first time participating in the event. Florida will also compete for the first time in the NIWFA Xmas Invitational at FDU in December.

Leading the way for the Gators are David Goldsmith, men’s foilist, Sam Montealegre and 1999 Temple Open Finalist, Matt Ruhter in men’s epee, and Joel Rauzin, 2001 Southeast United States Championships bronze medallist in men’s saber. The Lady Gators will be led by Zonnia Leong, women’s saber - silver medallist in the US III Cup, Sheri Stinemire, women’s saber - 2001 NIWFA Silver Medallist, and Darby Proctor, Women’s Epee - Bronze Medallist, 2001 US National Championships (III).

Captains

Team and squad captains lead the competitive membership. These captains ensure that practice runs smoothly and provide support for their team and squads. The current team captains were elected by the competitive membership on September 18, 2002. Contact information for each captain is provided below.

Team Captains
Joel Rauzin	Zonnia Leong

Squad Captains
Women's Epee	Women's Foil	Women's Sabre
Unelected	Unelected	Sheri Stinemire
Men's Epee	Men's Foil	Men's Sabre
Unelected	David Goldsmith	Marshal Davis

Announcement Concerning NCAA Status

The University of Florida Department of Athletics is now considering the addition of women’s fencing as a varsity sport. We have received numerous letters of support from NCAA teams, among them Stanford, Notre Dame, Temple, UNC, and Penn State. If fencing is chosen, competition is set to begin in the fall, 2003. Regardless of the decision, the men’s and women’s teams would like to take this opportunity to thank all universities who have supported our efforts through letters or allowing us to compete at their competitions.

Tournament Calendar

The following link provides a calendar of tournaments available to competitive fencers. Competitions are color coded to indicate the type of tournament. Only the traveling squad will compete in intercollegiate competitions. Additional information about each tournament may be found by clicking on its link in the calendar.

Tournament schedules are always subject to change, so please confirm all information provided with the contact. If you know of a competition or would like to list your competition on the calendar, please send email to Katrina Cass at kyzara@aol.com.

• Competitive Tournament Calendar