There are certain collegiate sports with nationally recognized superstars whose pictures are all over newspapers, magazines and television. Then there are others who just do not get that same recognition. Case in point: Duke fencing.
With two nationally ranked fencers--sophomore Nic Testerman and freshman Anne Kercsmar--the fencing squad is looking to make more of a national impact in its upcoming season, which begins on January 24 at Penn State.
Testerman is ranked 19th in junior men's epee and Kercsmar is ranked 17th in epee. Both are coming off great performances at this month's Fencing Junior World Cup, with Testerman finishing second and Kercsmar placing sixth.
In the meet on January 24, Duke will face off against Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, UPenn and UNC. "Penn State and Notre Dame are always strong," head coach Alex Beguinet said.
In team competition, Beguinet said that the men will be strong overall, with particular talent in the epee, led by Testerman. On the women's side, there is not as much overall strength.
"The foil [squad] is going to be weak," Beguinet said, noting that the team lost two seniors last year, Erin Black and Ashley Cockburn. Black was MVP of the team as a junior and had the best individual record on the team in 2002. Cockburn finished highest for Duke at last season's Atlantic/South Regionals, coming in 10th.
"Only one from the last [foil] team remains," Beguinet said. "The two other girls will do the best they can." Beguinet said that the women's epee, with Kercsmar, and the saber, with freshman Ibtihaj Muhammad, will both be good.
The fencing squad has also picked up a new coach, former Duke star Leslie Marx. Marx, who graduated from Duke in 1989, finished 16th in the women's epee at the 1996 Olympics. She came back to Duke last year as an Associate Professor of Economics at the Fuqua School of Business. Once she came back to Duke, it was understood that she would join the team as a coach.
"I kept in touch [with her] for years," Beguinet said. "It was a given. If she comes to Duke, she would be here [with the team]. That's it."
Marx has been working with the epees, in addition to handling a lot of the business aspects of the team, according to Testerman. "She's better for recruiting...more business oriented," Testerman said. "She's getting the job done."
Looking ahead to this season, the team hopes to send more individuals to the NCAA championship. At last season's meet, Testerman finished 18th in the epee, for the highest Blue Devil showing of the three Duke fencers there. Kercsmar hopes to join Testerman at NCAA's this season.
"I want to go to NCAA's and continually improve," Kercsmar said.
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