Michelle Potestio, the driving force behind the Tottenville foil team’s perfect regular season, has been named an Advance All Star to cap the 2012 girls’ fencing campaign.
Thanks to Potestio, the Pirates went 8-0 in foil and were seeded second in the PSAL’s one-day city postseason tournament. There, the Tots knocked off LaGuardia HS in the quarterfinals before falling to Stuyvesant in the semis to finish in fourth place. Tottenville’s epee team went 4-4 in the regular season and lost its first-round playoff match to LaGuardia.
McKee/Staten Island Tech, under the guidance of first-year coach Kevin Heiden, had its best success in epee. The Sea Gulls went 5-3 in the regular season, defeated Francis Lewis in their first-round playoff bout but lost in the quarters to Hunter College HS. In foil, MSIT was 4-4 before losing its playoff opener to Long Island City.
Petrides, meanwhile, did not field a team this year after going winless in 2011 in the PSAL’s Division I (which also includes Banneker, Brooklyn Tech and South Shore along with Tottenville and MSIT).
Michelle Potestio, Tottenville
The senior led the Pirates’ foil team to an undefeated regular season. The anchor fencer and captain, known for her attacking and aggressive style on the strip, won 23 of 24 bouts during the Pirates’ 8-0 regular season. She then helped Tottenville place fourth in the city playoffs. Potestio placed second at two major city tournaments, the PSAL Season Opener and the PSAL Invitational; and finished seventh at the PSAL Individual Championships.
