Division I

East Lyme

Coach: Keith Knight (13th season)

Key returnees: Jr. Madeline Anderson (girls’ epee), So. Avneeta Basu (girls’ epee), Sr. Alicia Haynes (girls’ foil), Sr. Abigail Rodes (girls’ foil), So. Owen Danis (boys’ epee), Sr. Caleb Haylon (boys’ foil).

Outlook: East Lyme was the ECC boys’ foil champion last year and finished fifth in the state, with Haylon finishing third in the league and eighth in the state. Anderson, Danis, Haylon and Rodes will serve as captains for the Vikings, who return their coaching staff as well as a number of top contenders working to follow last season’s championship team with another.

Fitch

Coach: Mike Brayman

Key returnees: Sr. Elaina Brookhart (girls’ epee), Sr. Fiza Shariff (girls’ epee), Sr. Pia Nicolas (girls’ foil), Sr. Aiden Bordelon (boys’ foil).

Top newcomers: Jr. Annabelle Whitney (girls’ foil), So. Alea Alla (girls’ epee), So. Lucy Federici (girls’ epee), Jr. Sam Alvaran (boys’ foil), So. Nathan Johnson (boys’ epee), So. Reece Johnson (boys’ epee), So. Mack Rodgers (boys’ foil).

Outlook: All four Fitch teams have strong veteran experience and look to compete for division titles. The Falcons placed second in girls’ foil, third in girls’ epee and second in boys’ epee at last season’s ECC championship and return place-winners Brookhart (fourth, girls’ epee) and Nicolas (fifth, girls’ foil), while Whitney was 14th in the state in girls’ foil. The Falcons lose ECC boys’ epee champion Noah Johnson to graduation.

New London

Coach: Chris Baker (5th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Stephanie Flores-Aguilar (girls’ foil), Sr. Andrew Mendez (boys’ foil), Sr. Ernsly Joseph (boys’ foil).

Top newcomers: So. Maia Johnson (girls’ epee), Fr. Cheyenne Shirley (girls’ epee), Sr. Yaneliz Rodriguez (girls’ epee), Sr. Jayla Taylor (girls’ foil), Jr. Nazariah Isaac (girls’ foil), Sr. Benjamin Robinson (boys’ epee), Sr. Jonathan Silva (boys’ epee), So. Juan Colon Ortiz (boys’ epee), Fr. Kenneth Willoughby (boys’ epee), Jr. Yariel Gonzalez (boys’ foil), Jr. Alexander Churis (boys’ foil), Sr. Elijah Quinones (boys’ foil).

Outlook: New London graduated a strong and accomplished group, including the entire boys’ epee squad which won the ECC title and finished third in the state. Baker said the Whalers are looking to rebuild for the coming years, with numbers improving — New London fields all four teams at the varsity level for the first time in school history — while also helping its senior class to finish strong. In boys’ foil, Mendez is aiming to be on the podium at the ECC tournament, while girls’ foilist Stephanie Flores-Aguilar, an All-ECC pick in 2022, is a candidate to medal as well. Joseph was fifth in the ECC last year in boys’ foil.

NFA

Coach: Jason Pryor (3rd season)

Key returnees: Sr. Amelia Carney (girls’ epee), Sr. Desiree Chow (girls’ foil), Sr. John Heck (boys’ foil), Sr. Thomas Lawton (boys’ epee).

Outlook: The Wildcats graduated 16 seniors, approximately half the team, including ECC champions William Weinkopf in boys’ foil and Inka Pallasvesa in girls’ epee. It will be up to NFA’s 19 returnees to return the Wildcats to the top of the ECC standings. The girls won the epee and foil team championships at least year’s league meet, with Carney finishing 12th in epee, and went on to finish second in epee at the team state championship event. Heck was 14th in the state in boys’ foil and Lawton 14th in boys’ epee, with the Wildcats finishing third as a team in boys’ foil.

Waterford

Coach: Hugh Teel Jr. (3rd season)

Key returnees: Sr. Maple Siu (girls’ epee), Jr. Hazel Siu (girls’ epee), Jr. Lauren Gerboth (girls’ epee), Sr. Tenzin Kyijong (girls’ foil), Sr. Isabela Haque (girls’ foil), Jr. Jiarou Liao (girls’ foil), Sr. Aidan Duport (boys’ epee), Jr. Charles Morgan (boys’ epee), Jr. Tyler Adams (boys’ epee), Sr. Thomas Bourez (boys’ foil).

Outlook: Maple Siu was second last season in girls’ epee at the ECC meet and second in the state and Hazel Siu was fifth in the state for the Lancers, who also won the state team championship in epee. Maple Siu and Kyijong (15th in the state in girls’ foil) will serve as captains on a team which Teel said has an up-and-coming group of novices who are developing for the future. “Waterford is looking to continue providing a strong team,” Teel said. “We continue to build on the success of the past several years.” The Lancers lose Charlotte Morin — who captained the girls’ foil team to a third-place team finish at ECCs and third in the state — to graduation.

Division II

Bacon Academy

Coach: Max Levesque (3rd season)

Key returnees: Sr. Taylor Gerst (girls’ foil), Sr. Allison Deane (girls’ foil), So. Charlotte Galarneau (girls’ foil), Sr. Melinda McKenzie (girls’ epee), Sr. Alyssa Waterman (girls’ epee), So. Lily Shuman (girls’ epee), Jr. Bennett Holloway (boys’ epee), So. Colton Waterman (boys’ epee), So. Oliver Melmed (boys’ epee).

Outlook: Many of the team’s seniors started with the Bobcats as freshmen, leaving Levesque hoping for a strong showing, including girls’ foil, which tied for the ECC Division II championship last season. Boys’ epee should also be competitive, employing the same roster for the second straight season and under the leadership of Holloway, who the coach says “shows tremendous growth and investment in the sport,” with Levesque already looking forward to next season’s boys’ epee lineup. Gerst and McKenzie will serve as captains.

Griswold

Coach: Jamie Buchas (8th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Devyn Pelillo (girls’ epee), Jr. Kalla Homme (girls’ epee).

Top newcomers: Sr. Amelia Stearnes (girls’ foil), Fr. Ashlyn Monaghan (girls’ foil), Sr. Cyrus Bakhshalizadeh (boys’ foil).

Outlook: Pelillo, who qualified for the Junior Olympics this year, and Homme, who was second at a season-opening tournament in a field of 30 other fencers, lead a competitive girls’ epee squad. Buchas said Griswold’s novices have shown “amazing potential” and predicts they will be contributing at the varsity level by the end of the season.

Ledyard

Coach: Tom Howard (5th season)

Key returnees: Sr. David Nelson, So. Sirena Arratia, Jr. Klaire Gieleghem, Sr. Andrew Bailey, Sr. Eleese Dutra, Jr. Noah Nelson, So. Adonis Diaz.

Top newcomers: Fr. Ava Allen, Fr. John Bogue, Fr. Zachary Strader.

Outlook: Howard calls this a well-rounded team, with a strong core of returnees along with nine new fencers. Howard said with hard work and commitment, the Colonels should contend against their division rivals. Ledyard was second in girls’ epee at last season’s ECC meet, led by Gieleghem’s fifth-place finish.

St. Bernard

Coach: Mackenzie Lyon (3rd season)

Key returnees: Sr. Zhuning Gao (girls’ foil), Jr. Stephanie Page (girls’ epee), Jr. Laurel Birch (girls’ epee), Sr. Gianni Torres (boys’ epee), Sr. Zachary Kobyluck (boys’ foil), Jr. Kaden Lovdahl (boys’ epee), Jr. Tommy Xu (boys’ foil).

Top newcomers: Jr. Barbara Ramos (girls’ foil), So. Yoyee Chen (girls’ epee), Jr. Hope Ouellette (girls’ foil), Jr. Christian Agreda (boys’ foil), So. Isaias Bumpus (boys’ epee), So. Mason Panas (boys’ epee).

Outlook: Gao was the ECC individual champ in girls’ foil last season and the St. Bernard boys were third as a team in foil at the league meet and eighth in the state. Lyon, a former fencer at Fitch and Boston College, said that although the Saints will miss their graduates, a number of novices have joined the team to replenish the numbers and the leadership for the varsity team has only grown, with Gao, Torres, Kobyluck, Lovdahl, Page and Birch all serving as captains. Said Lyon: “We are looking to improve upon our division record from last year as a team and are eager to see what our talented seniors and veteran varsity fencers will achieve.” Torres was fourth in the ECC in boys’ epee and fifth in the state.

Other

Old Lyme

Coach: Elizabeth Burnham (7th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Ava Cummins (girls’ epee), Jr. Mark Burnham (boys’ epee), So. Daniel Shaposhnikov (boys’ epee).

Outlook: The Wildcats have a small team of 10 fencers and will concentrate on epee. The girls’ team was seventh in the state last season in epee but graduates captain Sarah Burnham, who was 16th in the state in the individual tournament, and Elizabeth Burnham said she is anxious to see how the boys’ epee team will perform now that it has a full squad.