H-ton Girls' Fencers Grab Bronze Medal
The Huntington High School girls' fencing team turned in a solid performance at the Suffolk championships, battling its way to a third place finish
The Blue Devils entered the county competition seeded third as a result of the teams' 10-4 regular season record. Huntington won its first match in impressive fashion, sweeping past Brentwood, 7-2. Rugged Ward Melville proved too much to handle in the next match as the Blue Devils fell 8-1 after dropping some close bouts.
After the successive losses, Huntington rebounded with a 7-2 win over Centereach before falling to second seeded Commack, 7-2. The Blue Devils then went on to defeat Walt Whitman (6-3) and Newfield (5-4).
Heading in the final round the Blue Devils were tied with fourth seeded Half Hollow Hills with 28 points apiece. Gifted Huntington freshman Irina DeSimone led off the match with a 5-4 victory. Senior Kelly Askerberg followed with a 5-2 victory to put the team up by two. Hills' returning county finalist Lindsay Squires bested senior Katia DeSimone to reduce the Blue Devils advantage to a single point.
With Huntington's lead hanging in the balance, senior Taylor Choy fell behind 3-1 and then 4-3 before a strong finish gave her a 5-4 victory to put the Blue Devils ahead, 31-29. Junior Brianna Kirkland finished her day on an upbeat note with a 5-0 verdict to extend the team's advantage to three points.
Senior Maggie Askerberg took the next match in a hard fought battle, scoring the last two touches to win 5-4 and clinch third place for the team. Eighth grader Tea Khokhar followed up with a close loss. Sophomore Mary Sheehan won her last bout 5-4 to increase the team's lead to 34-30.
Senior Carly Glowacky finished the day with a bout against the defending county champion with a spot in the individual county finals on the line. "In one of her best bouts of the season, she took it into overtime before dropping the last touch for a loss," said Alan Kuver, Huntington's head coach.