“We have potentially started a new dynasty at Columbia.”

Bwog: You’re a junior. You won the individual men’s epee title and led our team to an NCAA championship. You’re on top of the world… now what?

Jake: Obviously, it feels great to win the team and individual title as a junior. In terms of what now, it’s just the same thing that I’ve been doing for the last couple years to ensure that next year goes just as well. One feels great, don’t get me wrong, but two would be even better. Goals haven’t really changed.

B: How would you describe the team atmosphere?

J: Everyone on our team is really close, especially compared to other fencing teams. In terms of friendships and how we work together of fencing, we all get along really well. I’d say more than half the team lives with each other in doubles or suites. That’s something that started after I arrived at Columbia. We have a very large junior class, and before this class, we didn’t have a great atmosphere, it was pretty disjoint, we didn’t have full squads [multiple high-caliber fencers in every starting position) at every weapon. When our year came, it really pushed the team in a different direction, more towards being all-in for fencing, centering your student-athlete experience around the team. Now that our class has been here for two years, we’ve set an atmosphere on the team with very strong bonds, inside and outside of fencing… And Michael Aufrichtig is really coming into his own, he’s only been a coach here for four years, five years maybe. Him coming in and creating a new team and a new attitude definitely contributed to our success.

B: You said, “compared to other fencing teams.” Can you elaborate on that?

J: Clearly, any team is going to be relatively close if they spend a lot of time with each other. But I do think that our team especially has a special bond with each other. I go to these meets, and the other teams are good, they have a lot of camaraderie, but I don’t see the same sort of relationships as we have. In fencing, you can take a timeout in the middle of a bout, and we use that all the time, much more than any other team, really. The advice that we’re giving to each other is great. Everyone has a lot of respect for each other, so we’re able to communicate well because we’re not afraid to say anything to each other.

B: Yeah, sometimes it’s hard for teams to have respect when some players are seeded higher than others.

J: We all train so hard at this, and it can be such an individual sport. Everyone on the team has accomplished something great at some point. You can handpick any fencer from the team, and they have an incredible accomplishment. And everyone knows that. You might be on a squad with someone on the cadet world team, or a junior Olympic champion. There’s a lot of mutual respect, because everyone’s already done so much, and once we get to Columbia, we’re all trying to achieve a collective goal.

B: This is our first fencing championship in 22 years. How does it feel to bring back the legacy?

J: It’s amazing. We have a big trophy case in the fencing room with all the NCAA trophies from the 80’s, and the last one in 1993. It’s an amazing feeling to know that this group of fencers right here contributed to that sort of Columbia legacy. Fencing has always been a very successful team here, but not really as of late… we’ve won Ivy League championships in the past 20 years,  we’ve had individual NCAA champions in the last 20 years, but we’ve never won as a team. And before that, we were winning every 2 or 3 years, and then we hit a huge dry spell. It feels great to be able to say that we have potentially started a new dynasty at Columbia.

B: Is the team doing anything right now to celebrate the championship?

J: I mean, we still have midterms. There’s definitely an atmosphere of excitement. No one can sit still in class, can really focus on anything right now. This is a huge accomplishment. We’ve been talking about trying to win NCAA’s since we got recruited. And it didn’t happen the past two years, but finally being able to do it was awesome. In terms of practicing, we’re definitely going to do it all year, but it’s a bit more relaxed right now.

B: In the semifinals, you faced off against fellow Columbia junior Brian Ro. What was that like?

J: I was fencing my teammate, and one of my best friends in the entire world. It didn’t necessarily feel new to me. We fenced in the finals of the North American Cup in 2012, we fenced in the top 8 of a tournament in 2013, we fence every year at regionals and every year at NCAA’s in the round robin, so we’ve fenced each other a lot. And it’s split pretty evenly between us. I can’t say that one of us beats the other more. I knew going into that bout that it was going to be really awesome and really hard-fought. It came down to overtime, one touch – it was super intense. Columbia knew they would have someone in the finals no matter what. And let’s say I lost to Brian – there’s no one I’d rather lose to than Brian. And I’m sure there’s no one he’d rather lose to than me.

B: Do you still get nervous when you’re fencing?

J: Yeah, I still get nervous, I think it’s impossible not to. Typically I’m nervous the night before, or a couple days before. So flying to NCAA’s was nerve-wracking. When I’m actually fencing (and a lot of athletes will probably tell you the same thing), once you’re in the zone, you’re just trying to do your job. Those nerves kind of fade away once you start fencing. What was really nerve-wracking, though, was that during the NCAA’s, there are two days of competition for the men, and two for the women. So after the men fenced, we had two days where we were just supporting the women. That was the hardest because we had no control over it. We’re just cheering as loud as we can and giving as much advice that we can.

B: What’s the relationship like between the men and the women?

J: Great relationship. A lot of my good friends are on the women’s team. We practice together at Columbia, a lot of us take lessons from the same coaches. So it really is one cohesive team.

B: Your home meets are normally in the Blue Gym. What’s the crowd like there?

J: It’s great. This year, so many people came to our home meets.Everyone was lining the track [above the gym], screaming. Some of them even showed up with signs for us, and it was awesome. That’s not something you always get at a fencing competition. It’s cool to see that there are so many students here that support the team. At Ivies, there was a huge turnout, too. Next year, nationals are at Brandeis, so it’s not too far away. I was thinking that maybe we could have a fan bus or something. That idea is still in the early stages, though.

B: Do you have any other teammates you’d like to give a shoutout to?

J: Of course. Brian Ro fenced incredibly. He was also in the final four, so that’s first team All-American. It was a shame that we couldn’t fence in the finals. Harry Bergman also fenced incredibly well, he placed fifth, so second team All-American. Margaret Lu came in second in women’s foil. She had a great semifinal bout where she came back six touches to win it and go to the finals. Anastasia Ivanoff, she’s a freshman. I remember my NCAAs being the hardest thing I’d ever been through. Seeing her come through as a freshman and do so well was great. She missed the final four by one touch. I’m so proud of her for doing so well. Everybody fenced well, these are just some of the people who stood out to me as being amazing.

B: Which title, individual or team, are you more proud of?

J: The team championship feels incredible to me. All of my best friends are on this team, and we’ve been training so hard for so long that it feels amazing to get to share this. This team is so tight. It’s great that I won the individual title, and it’s something that speaks to my individual fencing that I’ll never forget. This weekend was definitely the best I’ve ever fenced, I felt amazing out there. My parents were so proud of me, my coach was proud of me. But the team title means a lot because my whole life here revolves around the fencing team. You see us succeed as a whole unit.

B: Do you have any message about fencing or athletics that you want to get out to the student public?

J: Fencing has definitely shaped my student experience. If I could come back and do this all again, I definitely would. It’s very hard sometimes to balance school and athletics here. There are definitely times where you’re pretty down in the dumps about it, but overall, it’s been a great experience. It’s taught me a lot of things. So if you ever see an athlete on campus, and they look pissed off, cut them some slack, because they might be going through a rough patch in their sport. I love the athletics department, I love our coaching staff. It’s been a great three years so far, and hopefully it continues.

B:Which would you say feels like more pressure, NCAA championships, or finals week?

J: Ooh. That’s a tough question. I’d have to say NCAA’s. It’s a hard tournament, very physically and mentally taxing. And you really really want to do well. It’s your last chance to shine as a college fencer. In past years, maybe it’s been less stressful than finals, because we didn’t have enough people qualify to have a chance at winning. So you’re sort of just fencing for yourself. But when that team aspect is thrown into it, and you’re not just fencing so that you can be an All-American, your whole team success is riding on your fencing. If one of the twelve of us did really badly, we probably wouldn’t have won. That’s a lot of pressure.

[Interview edited for brevity.]

National Champions! via Columbia Athletics/Jeff Mills