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Atlanta area fencer Emily Jacobson is one of five fencers elected to captain the Columbia Fencing team in the 2007-2008 season. The Columbia men and women’s fencing teams will be led by five captains during the 2007-2008 season. They were elected in voting by the team members.
One of the five, rising senior Danielle “Dani” Gordet, returns for her second year as a captain. She is joined by two other seniors, Alex Diacou and Emily Jacobson, and two rising juniors, Max Czapanskiy and Sherif Farrag.
“I’m very pleased by the five captains our team has elected,” head fencing coach George Kolombatovich says. “Our fencers chose wisely.”
Gordet, a women’s sabre fencer from Wellesley, Mass., is the only one of the five to be voted a captain for the second time. She was recognized for her qualities of leadership, as well as ability.
“Dani works very hard,” the coach says. “She contributes a lot to our team.”
Gordet was one of three regulars in women’s fencing during the past season, helping the Columbia women to a perfect 13-0 season and the Ivy League championship. She won 31 of 42 regular-season bouts, 13 of 19 in the Ivy League, to earn first team All-Ivy League honors. She qualified for the 2007 NCAA Championships, but was unable to go due to NCAA squad-size limits.
 Her fellow senior, Emily Jacobson, made her third straight trip to the NCAA’s. Also competing in women’s sabre, she placed third, after taking first in 2005 and second in 2006. The three-time All-American was also All-Ivy League in 2006-07 after going 37-5 overall, 17-1 in the Ivy League.
Jacobson, a Columbia College student from Atlanta, is an accomplished international fencer. She represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics. She will be joined this season by her sister Jackie, who will enter Columbia and compete in women’s sabre.
Diacou, a senior from New York City, is one of the team’s most popular athletes. He enjoyed an outstanding sophomore season in 2005-06, making second team All-Ivy League and qualifying for the NCAA Championships in men’s sabre. Diacou appeared in only five bouts during the past season, but is expected to become a starter once again this season.
Czapanskiy will be the first men’s epeeist to captain the Lions since Noah Zucker in 1998. The junior from Takoma Park, Md., was only 13-8 as an alternating starter during the past season, but fenced impressively in the post-season and earned a berth in the NCAA Championships. His 12th-place finish earned him honorable mention All-American honors.
Farrag, a junior from Bayonne, N.J., won 27 of 36 bouts in men’s foil for Columbia during the 2006-07 season, helping the foil squad to an 86-31 record which was a key in the men’s team tying for the Ivy League title. He was 3-0 in Columbia’s dual-meet with St. John’s, the only Lion men’s fencer to go undefeated in the 14-13 victory over the Red Storm.
Columbia opens the 2007-08 season with the annual Alumni Meet Saturday, November 17. |
