FencParComp

    Finishing the season with a league record of two wins and 10 losses for the boys and one win and 10 losses for the girls, both fencing team have already surpassed their marks from last year. Halfway through the season now, each team has competed in six meets, with the boys winning four and the girls winning three.

     This is the second year for Fencing as a varsity sport. "[We] are the babies," said Jennifer Dhondt, coach of Girls Fencing. While many of the other teams in the league have been fencing for years, Melville is the new kid on the block.

     "[The other teams] have been around since I was fencing since before I was fencing," said Jeffery Salmon, coach of Boys Fencing. Salmon, who started a fencing club at Melville six years ago, wasn't asked to coach it as a Varsity sport until last year.

     "The kids have worked hard," Salmon said. "Usually their success comes from age and experience. But they have worked hard to close the gap with experience." This year, the boys team is composed almost entirely of sophomores and returning juniors. Of the 21 fencers on the boys team, only four are seniors.

     The girls team is very young this year. With only one junior and two seniors, the team's main force is its 15 sophomores and freshmen. Their hope is that when this years sophomores and freshman are seniors and juniors, they will have achieved a new level of fencing, according to Dhondt. "We are extremely excited about next year," Dhondt said. "Next year, whereas a lot of teams will have girls graduating, we will still have almost the same team, only better"

     "I think [at] every meet the girls are fencing better, and I think we'll peak at Counties, which is our goal," said Dhondt. Of the girls' losses, one was to Huntington, the number one team. Another was because the team was missing several of its starters. Its third loss was a 10-8 match with Centereach.

     "Already you can tell we're doing better," Dhondt said. The coaches hope to create a "fencing dynasty." They want to have one fo the banners in the gym with multiple consecutive championships.

     Senior Devin Gomez is the boys team captain but the girls team does not have an official team captain. "It's a young team," Dhondt said. "They are learning, so we didn't put anybody in that position."

     The teams' goals are to do well in Counties and to have more All-County players. "We expect to have some more All Counties," Salmon said.

    "And hopefully some more in the finals this year," Dhondt said. Senior Ben Ellis is the dominant force on the sabre team, according to Salmon. Salmon expects Ellis to make it to Counties as well as going to the state individuals.