UNC fencing team perform well in Illinois despite snowy distraction

The North Carolina fencing team had a snowy weekend, traveling to Evanston, Ill., for the Northwestern Dual Meets. Fourteen teams, including highly ranked Notre Dame, Princeton and Temple competed on Saturday and Sunday.

The team finally made it back to Chapel Hill Monday after more than a foot of snow made the roads unsafe for travel.

The men’s team went 7-4 in the meet, while the women’s went 9-3 overall with a strong Sunday record of 6-0.

Josh Webb, the team’s primary assistant coach, said the team fenced well.

Coach Ron Miller did not travel with the team this weekend. He has the flu and decided the warmer, snowless weather would be better for a fast recovery.

“We fenced well, even in our losses,” Webb said. “But sometimes the score didn’t exactly reflect what we did.”

Lidea Shahidi, a right-handed senior, went 18-7 overall in Evanston but thought she didn’t fence her best.

Shahidi finished 12th and 13th at NCAA Regionals in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

The snow seemed to be a distraction during the weekend, but Shahidi said the meet can be distracting enough in itself.

“I’ve gotten much better about keeping my head calm,” she said.

“I’ve been to the Northwestern Duals three times, but there are so many teams that it can be kind of overwhelming.”

Shahidi said her teammates who were less experienced with the meet’s size still kept their composure throughout the weekend.

The team had a couple of interesting run-ins with Stanford this weekend. On the men’s side, instead of the normal few matches and then stiff competition, the UNC men started the weekend off with a loss.

Harry Adams, a right-handed junior, went 14-9 individually in foil.

He fenced well in the foil competition, a part of the men’s team that has been looking for a standout competitor to emerge.

Adams said he is already looking forward to the next couple of weekends, especially the meet at Duke this coming weekend.

The women’s run-in with Stanford was a little different and much more unconventional.

The Chinese national team told Stanford junior Vivian Kong that she was not allowed to compete.

Instead of the typical three versus three in epee, Stanford only had two fencers available.

Adams said the foil scene on the men’s side right now boasts an even level of talent, which bodes well for when tougher competition comes.

“We are coming into the finishing stretch with Duke this weekend then the ACC Championships and then regionals if we qualify,” he said.

“Even though next weekend is at Duke, we consider it a home meet since we’re so used to driving for hours in the bus.”

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