Freshman epeeist Courtney Dumas was almost flawless during the first half of Northwestern's season. After finishing in the top 20 of every competition she competed in this year and winning the USFA Burton Open in October, it seemed as though she was unstoppable.
But her previous success did not travel with her overseas to Laupheim, Germany. Dumas finished 88th in the epée competition of the Junior World Cup on Dec. 17 and was eliminated in the first round of direct elimination bouts.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't very pleased with it," Dumas said.
The event, which is also known as the Uhlmann-Cup, featured 112 of the top junior fencers from around the world. Since the event was not sponsored by NU, Dumas' participation was voluntary and she had to pay her own way to attend.
The tournament began on a high note for Dumas, as she won her first two pool bouts. However, she could not maintain her form or confidence into the deeper rounds of the tournament, as she dropped her next four pool bouts, thus gaining a poor draw for the direct elimination round. She ended up losing her first direct elimination bout to Romanian native Amalia Tataran, who finished eighth at the event, 15-12.
"I felt good in the first two bouts, but afterwards I felt that I wasn't just mentally focused," said Dumas.
While the tournament presented Dumas with the toughest competition she had faced this season, she attributed her subpar performance to a lack of confidence that she had a difficult time explaining.
"It is an international competition and it is a higher level of competition in a sense, but there was really no reason to psyche myself out," said Dumas, who also mentioned that the styles of fencing she saw from her international competitors hardly differed from those she had seen at home.
The performance was somewhat of a surprise from Dumas given how well she has fenced this season. On top of her triumph at the Burton Open, Dumas also placed third at the USFA November North American Cup in the junior epée competition, and finished 19th at the USFA December North American Cup on Dec. 9. In that final event, she took part in Division I competition, the highest level of USFA fencing.
But even though Dumas did not get the result she wanted from the Uhlmann-Cup, she said there were some positives that she took away from the event.
"It felt good, I mean, I love getting to see different types of fencing and meeting new people," Dumas said.
She also mentioned that she hopes to take several of the different fencing techniques she learned from competing overseas and implement them into her own fencing for the remainder of the season.
And going forward, Dumas said that she would be able to continue producing the type of top results she had been providing NU before the Uhlmann-Cup.
"I feel good," Dumas said. "I am definitely going to train during the remainder of winter break so I can hit the ground running when I get back to school."
Dumas' foray into Germany marked the final competition in which any NU fencer will participate in 2011. Dumas and the rest of the Cats fencers will return to the strip Jan. 7, 2012 for the Air Force Duals in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Air Force Duals will mark NU's first team competition of the season.
benjamintaylor2015@u.northwestern.edu
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