En Garde! More News on Ranney Fencing

Varsity Fencing Team Advances to NJSIAA Individual and Squad State Championships

Ranney’s varsity fencing team competed in the NJSIAA/ Bollinger District Championships on Saturday, January 29, 2011, taking seventh overall, and earning several team and individual first place finishes as well.

One of the most prominent high school fencing events held throughout the United States, the NJSIAA/ Bollinger District Championships began on Saturday morning, as eight of Ranney’s most versatile fencing members traveled to the very competitive District #2 Championships and qualifiers at North Hunterdon High School.

Matched up against teams like Voorhees, Montgomery and West Windsor, the Panthers’ talented epee squad comprised of Omar Sarhan ’12 (Ocean), Sam Tkach ’12 (Little Silver) and Thomas Florek ’11 (Colts Neck) earned a gold medal. This fine finish marked Ranney’s first-ever District Championship win and NJSIAA Squad State Championship qualifier. From the team, Omar Sarhan garnered his first individual crown at the event as well, topping Eric Gardner of Watchung Hills, 5-3, in a fence-off for first place. Sarhan’s teammate, and defending individual title champion, Sam Tkach, placed third at the event with 10 of the team’s 25 wins and again qualified for the individual State Championship.

Battling 10 other schools, Ranney’s foil squad fought hard to land 20 total wins at the District Championship. Competing for third place with Voorhees, the Panthers fell short in a tie-breaker and finished fourth— just enough to qualify for the NJSIAA Squad State Championships at North Hunterdon High School. Throughout the event, C-strip fencer Victor Gainor ’12 (Spring Lake) saw five victories, while both B-strip fencer Jake Bassinder ’13 (Point Pleasant) and A-strip fencer and captain Thomas Hearne ’12 (Holmdel) each qualified for the afternoon’s individual final, resulting in an eighth and sixth place finish, respectively.

With five victories and an impressive individual finish at last year’s event, Ranney junior Patrick Glodkowski (Parlin) led newcomer John Weiland ’14 (Brick) and the boys’ saber team to an 11th place finish overall for the day.

Both Ranney’s epee and foil squads will continue on to face 15 other squads from competing schools throughout the state at the NJSIAA Squad State Championships on February 27, 2011. Meanwhile, Ranney’s own individual qualifiers, Sam Tkach and Omar Sarhan have truly earned the right to represent the school at the NJSIAA Individual State Championships on Saturday, March 12, 2011. With a seventh place finish overall, head coach of Ranney’s varsity fencing program and Atlantic Fencing Club Manager Agota Balot claims, “This is an outstanding result for such a small team.”

To read more about the recent accomplishments of the Fencing team and its members who competed internationally, click here.

Athletic Department Offers Fencing Classes to Lower School Students

Now in its second year, the Ranney School Athletic Department will once again offer Fencing instruction to Lower School students as part of its regular Physical Education program.

A great addition to the P.E. curriculum, this year’s fencing program has expanded to include grades one and two, along with grades three through five. It is the Athletic Department’s belief that “you are never too young to learn,” said Activity Coordinator and P.E. teacher Ian McNamara.

Due to an increase in popularity amongst all divisions, the Lower School Fencing program will total three hours of instruction over four separate lessons, and teach basics of the sport such as the difference between a Foil, Saber and Epee weapon, how to use each to target various areas of the body for points, and the basics of stance, lunge, parry and more.

Led by Varsity and Middle School Fencing Coach Agota Balot and supervised by P.E. teachers throughout the department, the six-week program will begin the week of February 4th and continue on through March 23, 2011. Aside from providing Lower School students the opportunity to experience the fast-growing sport of fencing first-hand, the program also serves a huge advantage to Ranney’s Middle and Upper School Fencing Programs, which will benefit as Lower School students make their way through each grade level. “By the time they reach team competition in the Middle and Upper Schools, they will already have a number of years of experience behind them,” said McNamara.