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Dear Friends of Cornell Fencing,
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I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving with your families, whether virtual or in person. Most of our athletes have returned home for the remote winter session. We are continuing virtual conditioning, footage review, and team meetings on a voluntary basis until the athletes return on 2/8.
In this newsletter we highlight
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Competitive Fencing Season Cancelled
As many of you already know we will not have a competitive season this year. This news came as a great disappointment to our team, especially our seniors. That said, our senior captains have continued to lead the team each and every day. They are providing an amazing example for the rest of the team both in person and remote.
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Student in the Spotlight
Kristen Wong '22 was featured in a recent athletics email for her work on bringing financial literacy to Cornell. I encourage you all to read the related article here. One of the Kristen's high level goals with this event was to teach her classmates the value of impact investing. Alumnus Adam Kirsch ('15, MBA '16), Coach Klinkov, and men's team co-captain Manny Merino all served as guest speakers for the event.
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Class Reunions
Cornell Fencing Association Board Member Alan Petroff ('74) put on an amazing zoom reunion for his teammates this past October. We both welcomed back old friends including Tom Sarikas ('76; whose 2018 banquet speech is a must see), Hall-of-Famer Peggy Walbridge ('74), and Coach Raoul Sudre ('60) and we also had the opportunity to reengage with alumni that we haven't seen in quite some years including Bob Hupp ('78; now a fencing coach at MIT), Scott Koenig ('73; now deep in the biotech world following a menteeship under Anthony Fauci), and Craig Lillehei ('72; joining us again later this week - see below). In total four All-American joined us for the event (Raoul Sudre '60, Peggy Walbridge '74, Kathy Stevenson '75, and Nilo Otero '76) and nearly a fifth as well (Ken Torino '75). I was personally thrilled to meet so many Cornell Fencing Alumni for the first time.
We are currently looking into hosting two more virtual class reunions, one centered around the late 80s/early 90s and one centered around the late 90s/early 00s. While not a perfect replacement for our spring banquet and fall dinner, I hope through these events we can continue to reconnect and bring all of your experiences to the current generation of Cornell fencers. Please keep your eye out for more virtual events and “meet the coach” opportunities.
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Career Panels
The Cornell Fencing Association is looking to reboot its mentorship program. As a first step towards this goal, we will start hosting alumni in various fields to speak with the team about their experiences. We are kicking this off later this week with a panel of four medical professionals: Craig Lillehei ('72), Michael Cabana ('89), Nina Inamdar ('94), and Angelica Gangemi ('16). Thank you all for being a part of this. I hope to get many more of you on the hook for joining us for a team meeting in the future.
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Support Cornell Fencing
Though this year is different from most, our alumni and parent support is a constant. From covid care packages to student mentorship, I want to thank you all for all you have done and are continuing to do for our team. Due to the financial strain on the athletics department over the past year your financial support for fencing now is more crucial than ever. Through our financial support we are able to not only show amazing results, but also excel at providing an amazing student athlete experience. It is my hope that all of our parents and alumni will continue their support of this experience – we certainly cannot do it without you.
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Ariana Klinkov
Head Fencing Coach | Cornell University
Teagle Hall | 512 Campus Road | Ithaca, NY 14850
fencing | bio | Andrew P. Stifel Fencing Salle | Bartels Hall
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