Photo courtesy Men's Club Lacrosse

GW men’s club lacrosse capped off a 10-3 regular season with strong play in two championships.

In late April, the team  defeated St. Mary’s College–which was ranked #1 in the Division II Chesapeake Conference–by a score of 12-11 with three seconds left to go in the game at the National College Lacrosse League (NCLL) Chesapeake Conference Championships at the University of Maryland. It was the first time that the program has gotten past the NCLL Elite 8 and the first time the Colonials have gotten to the championship.

On May 10, the team lost in overtime 13-12 to St. Joseph’s College at the NCLL Division II National Championship in Annapolis. Despite the loss, the team is proud of its successful season, said captain Jonathan Lorentzen.

“We had a new head coach, Joe Opron III, that has helped the program tremendously, and we got amazing support from our faculty adviser Michael Morsberger, vice president of alumni relations and development here at GW,” he said.

Sophomore Kat Tsiatas, saber captain in the GW fencing club, wrote to the blog about the club’s 2011-12 season. She writes:

The GW fencing club had a very exciting year, including a third place saber team trophy in the Baltimore-Washington College Fencing Conference (BWCFC) for the second year in a row and an individual third place medal for sophomore Jim Crudele in the conference.

Photo courtesy Kat Tsiatas

In October, GW traveled to the United States Navy Academy for the Southern Atlantic Conference Invitational. GW fencing was invited for the first time this year as recognition of our growing size and competitiveness. Overall, GW ranked fourth out of the seven competing teams. Combined women’s saber, foil and epee squads ranked third overall, and combined men’s squads ranked fourth overall.

Two sophomore saber fencers— myself and Jim Crudele —also traveled to Richmond to compete at the North American Cup in Division II and Division III events. Both of us placed in the mid-50s out of a field of around 120. Eleven team members also competed in the annual individual Chaos Tournament at the University of Maryland.

In November, GW traveled to an individual tournament at Temple University. TempleOpenis a tournament that any undergraduate student can participate in regardless of club or NCAA status. Some of the results include: Taylor Eldridge, who placed 57^th out of 87 in women’s foil; epee captain Claire Wilhelm, who placed 16^th out of 92 in women’s epee; and foil captain Joel Klein, who placed 54^th out of 89 in men’s foil.

GW's saber team celebrates with its third place trophy. Photo courtesy Kat Tsiatas

The GW fencing club also traveled to St. Mary’s College in November for the BWCFC Fall Meet. GW ended the first meet in seventh place out of 10. Saber was in fifth place, foil was in seventh place and epee was in ninth place.

After the BWCFC Spring Meet at George Mason University in February, GW improved to sixth place. Saber ended the season at third place; foil placed sixth and epee placed seventh.

GW recently sent two fencers to the BWCFC Individual Championships in May at Bryn Mawr College. Jim Crudele placed third and I placed 21^stout of 36 saber fencers.

GW fencing also sent four squads to Nationals in Hartford, Conn., this month. Women’s foil placed 22^nd out of 28 teams; women’s saber placed 24^th ouf of 28; men’s epee placed 33^rd out of 35; and men’s saber placed 16^th out of 33.

The GW Fencing Club is looking forward to next year with a hopeful repeat of the saber team trophy. In early October, we will host the Southern Atlantic Conference Invitational.

Photo courtesy GW women's rugy

For the second year in a row, GW women’s rugby qualified for the National Sweet 16 tournament, which features the top rugby teams in the nation. They will play at Fred Beekman Park in Columbus, Ohio this Friday and Saturday.

The squad finished the fall season undefeated with help from their new coaches, GW graduate student Winnie Chao and former GW rugby player Suzanne Haggerty, B.A.’10.

Good luck Colonials!

The GW Cycling team defeated several schools to win $5,500 in Zipcar Credit in the company’s Students with Drive Contest. The team will make good use of the credit as they routinely travel up and down the East coast for competitions.

The team will celebrate their victory today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Kogan Plaza. The event will feature free food, games and guest speakers, including Deputy Athletic Director Chris Boyer, Recreational Sports Director Aubre Jones and Zipcar D.C. General Manager Ellice Perez. All are welcome. Check out GW Today for the full story.

We are sending good vibes down to Florida this week as GW Cricket competes in the 2012 American College Cricket Nationals.

Avadh Nandra, M.S.’08, said the team is shooting for the title this year in group C, where they will face opponents like University of Florida, Rutgers University and College of Wooster.

GW alumni Avadh Nandra and Vishal Khatri play on GW's cricket team.

“[GW] is a team full of talented players who can hit the ball really hard and break some wickets with their bowling speeds,” said Mr. Nandra.

To prepare for Nationals, the 12-member team has been practicing in the Smith Center and in some of their local leagues, including the Washington Metropolitan Cricket board and the Washington Cricket League.

Mr. Nandra said some of the team members also have experience playing cricket in the under 19 and under 22 leagues in India, including GW alumni Vishal Khatri, Ashutosh Gairola and Mr. Nandra, who has been playing cricket since he was 13 years old.

This year GW Cricket is much more experienced, and Mr. Nandra said the team hopes that pays off in Florida.

“We aim for nothing less than hitting the big Nationals title,” he said.

Good luck GW Cricket!

GW Cricket will head to Florida next week for the American College Cricket Nationals. This season’s team includes players from the Washington Metropolitan Cricket board and Washington Cricket League, two of the best cricket leagues in the area. Check back here for more coverage about GW Cricket. Good luck Colonials!

It’s a genteel sport—with a weapon. And it’s the choice sport for members of GW’s Fencing Team.

A 10-year-old club in the Baltimore-Washington Collegiate Fencing Conference, GW Fencing has up to 55 members and practices three times a week in different facilities on the Foggy Bottom campus.

Senior Natalya Staritskaya and junior Landon Elkind talked with Colonial Corner about their team, their season outlook and why they love the sport.

 Q: What do you need to practice fencing?

Landon: There are three weapons: foil, sabre and epee. Each has different target areas (range of places you’re allowed to strike the opponent for a point), rules for right of way (what sequence of actions allow a fencer to score a point), and quite different blades. Foil is for fencers who prefer to abide by rules of engagement, and truly earn a victory over the opponent in a test of skill. Sabre is for those who love the thrill of charging the enemy in a high-energy, immediate action-reaction situation. The epee is for free reign fencers who don’t want to mind rules – they just want to stab the opponent first!

You need suspenders with long socks to cover the legs, a jacket for the torso, a mask for the face and an underarm guard for the weapon arms’ shoulder. This is highly important, as a fencer (in Hungary, I believe) died fencing without one. At tournaments, the directors (referees) tend to be very strict about this safety precaution. So fencing is not just a game – it’s a sport in its own right.

Natalya: Women [also] need a breast plate protector. For electrical equipment, you need a weapon, body cord (to relay the electrical signals) and mask, and for foil and sabre, a lamé and mask cord. Our club supplies all electrical equipment to keep costs low for beginners, with most people buying their personal gear at the end of the first year. We have loaner equipment for whites [the full uniform] but it is on a first come first serve basis and there is not a guarantee we have your perfect size, but we do our best.

 Q: Why did you join the GW Fencing club?

Natalya: “I joined the club because a friend asked me to fill in – previously I did kendo (not at GW). Fencing is a great sport to relieve stress and develop strong muscles. It’s a great workout for underarms, buns and thighs while being competitive and meeting interesting people.

Landon: I joined the club because I tried fencing as a class at GW and loved it. It also encourages me to exercise – which is something that’s easy to forget with studies, social demands and work demanding one’s time. I chose between fencing and kendo because I knew I wanted to wield a blade. I also chose fencing because I like the fencers on the team and the fencing culture better (which has a long history, going back to before it became a sport). (Read more »)