Five years ago, Steven Yang began fencing as a fun after-school activity, unaware that he would eventually be competing at the national and international levels.
“I wasn’t competitive, but I started to pick it up pretty quickly, and eventually, I joined a competitive club,” says Yang, a senior fencer on the High School South sabre squad — the only member of last year’s state championship sabre squad who did not graduate.
Now it’s all about the competition for him. After he decided to take on fencing competitively, he switched weapons from foil to sabre, eventually becoming a nationally-ranked fencer.
He is a leader on South’s team. He went undefeated, 18-0, and took the gold medal in the individual sabre competition at the District II Championships on January 29. Though the team’s overall record is only 1-4, Yang’s teammates also did well at the District II meet. At epee, Harington Lee placed fifth and qualified for the individual state tournaments.
“Personally, I just like the competitiveness,” said Yang. “It’s about putting my skills up to the test against other people who are as competitive as I am.”
Yang moved to Plainsboro from Canada when he was two and eventually moved to West Windsor. His mother is a caregiver, and his father is an electrical engineer.
At South, he has become not only a good fencer, but a good leader, says Coach Edward Chang. “Steven is all that is left of a sabre squad that took every title in the state last year,” said Chang. “This year, he is working on building a very young team in to a competitive group. Having placed third individually in the state last year, Steven has since earned his A rating nationally (the highest non-points rating recognized by the USFA). As a member of the team he is negotiating his new role as a leader and a veteran fencer.”
Yang placed second at the national U-17 North American Cup in Des Moines, IA, last season. This season, Yang was third in the U-19 North American Cup in Milwaulkee, WI; and at an international level competition in Hungary last year, he placed 17th.
But his fencing career will not end when he graduates in June. Yang will head to the University of Pennsylvania next fall, where he will also be a member of the school’s fencing team. “It will definitely be a dominant aspect of my college career,” he said, adding that he chose to attend Penn on a balanced mix between academics and athletics. While Yang is unsure of his major at this point, he hopes to go pre-med and get into medical school.
South’s team as a whole has been pretty well-rounded. At epee, Charles Zhou, a junior, is nationally ranked C. For the girls’s foil squad, senior Sharon Gao is nationally ranked A and placed sixth in the state last year. For the girls’ foil team, sophomore Kristen Kemnitzer, who is nationally ranked D, is leading the squad.
South’s girls qualified for the state competition with a second place finish in the District II Championships on January 29. The foil squad of Gao, Becky Shi and Kemnitzer went 29-1 and finished in first place for foil. Sabre (Dana Kong, Jennifer Ling, Roxi Mitrut and Liz Yu) placed fifth, and epee (Selena Seto, Kaye Hanley and Adrienne Cardulla) placed sixth.
In individual competition, Gao took the gold medal in foil. Gao and Kemnitzer qualified for the state individual competition.
