The Wesleyan Fencing Club—or W’Escrime, for all the pun-loving francophones on campus—saw its first action of the academic year this weekend, as the team journeyed up to Amherst, Mass. on Sunday, Oct. 28 for the Five Colleges and Friends Scrimmage at Hampshire College. The day-long competition presented an opportunity both for novice Cardinal fencers to get their feet wet and for returners to tune up their skills in preparation for official meets later in the season.

Wesleyan fencers did battle with athletes from UMass, Holyoke, Smith, Hampshire, and Bennington in all three fencing events—those featuring the weapons of foil, épée, and sabre respectively. Foil, the lightest weapon, is used for thrusting, with points being scored when one opponent hits another’s torso with the point of the blade. Épée is heavier and is also used for thrusting, with the whole body in play for point-scoring. Sabre, the heaviest weapon, is used for slicing, with the whole upper body in play except the hands and back of the head.

Because the competiton was scrimmage status, team point totals were not calculated. That being said, the Cardinals did not need scoreboard validation to be proud of their performance.

“I was tickled to see how legitimate we were,” co-captain Sarah Lerman-Sinkoff ’14 said. “Nobody got trounced, and I think that our novices did phenomenally well.”

Impressive performers included classmates Adam McGill ’16 and Alex Woo ’14, who respectively came in first in the épée event among 16 competitors, and eighth out of 24 in the foil. In sabre, Lerman-Sinkoff came in fifth out of 28.

Since its inception in 2010, W’Escrime has successfully grown its talent by attracting committed members, including hard-working novices and and those who have some fencing experience. According to Lerman-Sinkoff, this year about half of the club has past experience. Moreover, about half of these fencers learned with W’Escrime thanks to both the club’s part-time foil coach and the guidance of the veteran athletes, a point of pride for the young club program.

Next up for W’Escrime is the annual New England Intercollegiate Fencing Fall Invitational, or “The Big One,” which is being held this Saturday, Nov. 3, at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Eleven Cardinals will join the ranks of over 500 athletes, which marks the first time that Wesleyan has been represented in the meet.