Sunday, May 19th, the Townsend Harris Girls Varsity Fencing team travelled to CCNY for their series playoff matches. The team, led

The Hawks finished the regular season 10-0 and headed into the playoffs on a hot streak. When asked about the undefeated season, Coach Yan said, “being undefeated helped us secure a high seed. We are seed second in foil and third in épée, so we get a bye to the quarterfinals in both weapons.” Advancing to the next round proved to be helpful for the Hawks; they had plenty  of time to rest and scout their opponents.

When the time came for the Hawks to start fencing in Round 2, they proved to be resilient when they rallied for 12 points to tie the score. One of the épée captains, Fariha Hussain stated, “we didn’t give up,” a trait every team should have. Freshman Rebekah Jones won the bout and gave the Hawks a 10 point lead in the épée category. Unfortunately the Hawks would come up short in round 3 against Brooklyn Tech in épée despite a strong bout. The Hawks would then go on to win bronze against rival Stuyvesant HS by 5 points.

In the weapon of foil, the Hawks also came up strong. In round 2 of the competition, Sophomore Alondra Lerebours fenced very well, advancing the Hawks to the semi finals. In the semi finals, the Hawks fell behind, but Senior Alanna Leung, showed outstanding leadership gaining 10 points for the team. Alanna finished the job by timing-out, and advancing the Hawks to the finals. Even though the Hawks were defeated by Hunter, they still brought home the silver medal.

It was a long, successful season for the Hawks, and when asked about the future of the team,  Captain Fariha said, “I expect great results from them”.