Cheshire Academy Fencers are State Champs with Undefeated Records

The Cheshire Academy Cats have seen their share of talent in varsity coed fencing. This year, the women’s foil team not only won the Connecticut State Championship on Saturday, March 9, but two standouts swept competitions and took home numerous accolades throughout the season – including individual state champion.

Three-year foil captain Elise Lurix ’24 of Burlington, Conn., completed her fourth and final season, while novice Ka Yuet “Jenny” Zheng ’27 of Shanghai, China, finished a stellar first season – both with a record of 24-0. The two went on to the individual Connecticut State Championships on Saturday, March 2, with Zheng taking home the title of State Champion in Women’s Foil, and Lurix placing seventh. In addition to Zheng’s big win, Lurix earned MVP and the Female Trustees Award at Cheshire Academy’s winter sports awards on Friday, March 8.

“This is a great accomplishment for CA’s women’s foil squad,” said Coach Matthew Socia. “Because Elise and Jenny both went undefeated in the regular season, that means that our women’s foil squad went undefeated in the regular season as well.” Socia went on to note that the women’s foil squad is the school’s largest fencing squad, “with the deepest bench of talent,” adding that both Lurix and Zheng are “great examples of how high school fencing can work generationally—meaning the experienced fencers help boost the new fencers and build strong competitors out of them, who in turn help next year’s new recruits. It’s a cycle we are working to achieve in all our squads.”

While achieving such impressive feats, both student-athletes are deeply involved in their academic communities. Lurix is a full-time International Baccalaureate student, peer tutor, president of CA’s Model United Nations, and is a member of the National Honor Society and debate club, among others. Zheng is a member of the math club and debate club.