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As the season comes to a close, like the Greek god Chronos, the Cardinal fencing team looks back on their stellar record while gazing ahead confidently for another excellent season next year.
The Cardinals beat out 10 other schools for first place at the All-City Tournament for the second year in a row on April 24 at George Washington High School and competed for individual titles. “I’m honored to be invited to compete with other skilled fencers,” senior fencer Arlo Lobascio said.
Lowell placed first by earning 48 points total, beating out their rivals, the University High School Red Devils, by 12 points. The Cardinals also triumphed over the Red Devils during their individual match back on April 16. “It’s always great to beat out your main competition,” Lobascio said.
Although senior starters Melissa Louie, David Seeto and Lobascio are graduating, the team has faith for next year. “The remaining members are still strong, and hopefully we’ll be able to strengthen this year’s underclassmen,” sophomore starter Alex Cheng said. “ We definitely have freshmen with potential.”
Sophomore starters Cheng, Walter Pan, Jayne Stewart and junior back up Elizabeth Chen joined Louie and Lobascio as they continued on to the All-State Invitational on May 15 at school. Lobascio technically was not qualified for All-State because only the top eight from each division in the AAA League were to go on to All-State, and he ranked number nine in the boys’ division. Fortunately, the coaches voted him into the tournament. The Cardinals placed first overall in the competition, which included the top players from All-City and several schools from San Jose. “Everyone on the team did well this season, “ Cheng said. “Each match needs each fencer to do well, and that’s why having a team full of strong fencers is so great.”
Most Valuable Player: Alex Cheng
The season may be over, but the team is confident they will do well next year as well, especially with Cheng. “The man is a god,” Lobascio said. Cheng placed first in the boys’ division at both All-City and All-State, as well as most of his bouts during the season. “He brings a very positive attitude, understands competition but can enjoy it, gets along great with everybody, and works hard when it’s time to compete,” Lobascio said.
Cheng himself is very humble about his talent with a foil, and insists it was a team effort. To keep his game up, Cheng also competes in local and national championships. “Both competing in tournaments and in school is fun,” Cheng said. “As you’d expect, competing in national tournaments are way more intense. But I like fencing against other high schools more because of the whole team dynamic. At school, it’s all about supporting each other.” |
