By Pritish BehuriaThe Daily Northwestern

Senior Sophie Eustis didn’t just change her choice of weapons in her senior year of high school. She changed sports.

For Eustis, who also played squash and was a league all-star in lacrosse in high school, the switch to fencing was an unexpected twist.

“If you told me in high school that I would be fencing so long, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Eustis said. “I always did some fencing but didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did.”

For Eustis, it was a journey from being an inexperienced sabreur to the captain in her senior year. She had switched weapons in her senior year of high school: earlier dabbling in foil, her move to sabre was what eventually stuck.

She even fenced foil in her freshman year at Northwestern, ending with a 3-3 record. She said she recognized sabre was her strongest weapon and concentrated on it.

“Sophie’s learned the game of sabre and how to make it work,” coach Laurie Schiller said. “She’s a very intellectual fencer, knowing when to trap and feint.

“She’s like a good running back that can find holes in defense and doesn’t run into the linebackers.”

Eustis has been an active part of the fencing team since her freshman year.

As a sophomore she started with a bang, opening the season with fourteen straight wins en route to finishing seventh at the Midwest Regional Championships.

“I went back home and worked really hard,” Eustis said. “(The winning run) wasn’t a big deal since our first meet was a club meet, and its what I should have been doing all along.”

Schiller said after establishing herself as a leading member of the sabre team, she earned her captaincy.

“(She’s) improved a lot over the years,” senior Mai Vu said. “Since freshman year, she’s been committed and hardworking and as a leader provides a great support system and brings a positive attitude to the team.”

Reach Pritish Behuria at [email protected].