CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University fencing will welcome eight first-years to the program for the 2023-24 academic year, including five on the men's side and three on the women's team, as part of the Class of 2027, head coach Daria Schneider announced on Saturday.
 
The class includes a balance across weapons with two each from men's epee and men's sabre and one each from men's foil, women's epee, women's foil, and women's sabre. The group includes three newcomers from the state of Massachusetts, two from New York, and one each from Canada, Florida, and California.
 
Harvard's Class of 2027 includes Isabella Chin (Manhasset, N.Y., women's epee), Hyunseok Choi (Belmont, Mass., men's sabre), Jessica Zi Jia Guo (women's foil, Toronto, Ontario), Owen Jin (Worcester, Mass., men's epee), Henry Lawson (Manhattan, N.Y., men's epee), Kaitlyn Pak (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., women's sabre), Kevin Sohn (Irvine, Calif., men's sabre), and Daniel Zhang (Belmont, Mass., men's foil).
 
The Class of 2027 joins a Harvard program that posted a successful 2022-23 season, in which the Crimson finished fourth at the NCAA Championships. On the men's side, Jonas Hansen earned an NCAA national championship in men's epee, and for the women, Lauren Scruggs was crowned the NCAA national champion in women's foil. 

Isabella Chin

Weapon: Women's Epee
Hometown: Manhasset, N.Y.
High School: Manhasset
Before Harvard: Won a Junior national title in 2022 and a Junior World Cup championship in 2023 … Captured a Cadet World Cup Championship Team title in 2021 … Earned a Cadet World Cup bronze medal as a team in 2022 … An AP Scholar with Honor … Fenced on the club level for New York Fencing Academy … Enjoys baking and crocheting … Daughter of Karen and Kevin Chin.

Hyunseok Choi

Weapon: Men's Sabre
Hometown: Belmont, Mass.
High School: Belmont
Before Harvard: Won a junior national title at the 2022 Junior Olympics … Ranked fourth in the junior points standings at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season … Tallied multiple top-eight finishes at nationals … Captured a bronze medal at the North American Cup … Finished eighth in Division 1 at the 2021 October NAC … Placed eighth at the 2023 Junior National Championships … Earned First Team Academic All-America accolades in 2021-22 … Started fencing in 2013 … Enjoys basketball, video games, and music … Son of Leung Seo and Ilho Choi. 

Jessica Zi Jia Guo

Weapon: Women's Foil
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
High School: Havergal College
Before Harvard: Competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Team Canada, placing fifth as a team and 13^th as an individual … Won gold as a team at the Pan American Championships in 2022 and 2023 … Took silver as a team and individual at the 2019 Lima Pan American Games … Captured bronze as an individual at the Pan American Championships in 2022 and 2023 … Garnered gold at the 2021 and 2022 Cadet World Championships … Gained bronze at the 2021 Junior World Championships … Earned a ranking as high as No. 4 in the Senior World Rankings … Selected as the 2020 Senior and Junior Athlete of the Year by the Canadian Fencing Federation … Daughter of YueZeng Guo and RongQiao Liu … Sister Zi Shan (Shirley) Guo, a member of the Penn fencing Class of 2024, has competed internationally in women's epee, including winning a silver medal at the 2018 Pan American Championships. 

Owen Jin

Weapon: Men's Epee
Hometown: Worcester, Mass.
High School: Boston Latin School
Before Harvard: Posted an undefeated season in 2023 … Earned an individual bronze medal at the state competition in 2020 … Won Men's Epee MVP honors in 2022 and 2023 … Served program as a team captain from 2021-23 … Competed on the club level for Cavalier Fencing Club and Olympia Fencing Center … National Honor Society Student … Acted as captain of Math Team … Vice President of the Diabolo Club and with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance … Plays the flute … Enjoys performing with the diabolo (Chinese yo-yo) and playing volleyball, basketball, badminton, and tennis … Son of Jerry Jin and Victoria Ren … Sister Angel Jin graduated from Harvard in 2017. 

Henry Lawson

Weapon: Men's Epee
Hometown: Manhattan, N.Y.
High School: Trinity
Before Harvard: Earned a spot on the U.S. National Team three times, competing at the Cadet World Championships in Cairo (2021), Junior World Championships in Dubai (2022), and Junior World Championships in Plovdiv (2023) … Captured a pair of silver medals as an individual at the Junior World Cup in Luxembourg in 2021 and Belgrade in 2022 … Gained silver as a team at the Junior World Championships in Dubai in 2022 and gold as a team at the Junior World Cup in Riga in 2022 … Claimed a pair of U.S. national titles, winning Y12 (2017) and Cadet (2021) national championships … Took silver at the Junior NAC in January 2023, gold at the Junior NAC in December 2022, bronze at the Junior NAC in July 2022, and bronze at the Junior NAC in December 2021 … Competed on the club level for Fencers Club and coaches Kornel Udvarhelyi, Dwight Smith, and Guillermo Madrigal … Cum Laude graduate from Trinity … Son of Sandra and Hugh Lawson … Brother Nicholas Lawson is a member of the Princeton fencing Class of 2025. 

Kaitlyn Pak

Weapon: Women's Sabre
Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
High School: High Tech
Before Harvard: Finished in the top eight at the USA Fencing Summer Nationals in July 2023 … Came in the top eight at the Junior World Cup in Segovia, Spain in January 2023 … Placed in the top 16 at the Junior World Cup in Dormagen, Germany in December 2022 …  Took bronze in Division 1 at the USA Fencing NAC in October 2022 … Captured bronze at the Junior Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru in March 2022 … Helped team win gold in junior women's sabre at the Junior World Cup in Dormagen in December 2022, capture bronze in junior women's sabre at the Junior World Cup in Sosnowiec, Poland in November 2022, and gold in junior women's sabre at the Junior Pan American Championships in Lima in March 2022 … Competed for the Cadet Women's Sabre Travel Team (2019-20), Junior Women's Sabre Travel Team (2021-23), and Senior Women's Sabre Travel Team (2022-23) … Gained Absolute Fencing First Academic Team four times and USA Fencing Academic All-America four times … Enjoys traveling, cooking, and reading … Daughter of Kathleen and Raymond Pak. 

Kevin Sohn

Weapon: Men's Sabre
Hometown: Irvine, Calif.
High School: Northwood
Before Harvard: Finished fifth in Division 1 at NAC in 2021 … Earned bronze in junior at NAC in 2023 … Posted top-eight finishes in junior at NAC in 2022 … Garnered bronze and top-eight finishes in cadet at the Junior Olympics and NACs from 2019-21 …  Won a team silver in Cadet European Cup in Germany in 2019 … Claimed gold at Summer Nationals in 2019 … Competed on the club level for Southern California Fencing Academy … A Congressional App Challenge winner, Bank of America Student Leader, U.S. Presidential Scholar Nominee, and National Merit Scholarship Finalist … Earned USFA First Team All-Academic four times … A six-time gold-level recipient of the President's Volunteer Service Award … Plays the clarinet … Enjoys playing guitar and reading … Son of Sunkyung Kim and Sam Sohn … Brother Joshua Sohn fenced at MIT, winning NFC Fencer of the Year in 2022. 

Daniel Zhang

Weapon: Men's Foil
Hometown: Belmont, Mass.
High School: Belmont
Before Harvard: Earned a spot on the National Cadet Team in 2020 and 2021 … Fenced with the Junior National Team in 2021, 2022, and 2023 … Captured a gold medal at the Cadet World Championships in 2021 … Won a team title in junior men's foil in 2023 and silver as a team in 2021 at the Junior World Championships … Claimed a junior national title in 2019  at the Junior Olympics… Competed on the club level for Star Fencing Academy … Earned USA Fencing All-Academic Team accolades from 2020-23 … High Honor Roll student, a USA Biology Olympiad semifinalist, and an AP Scholar with Distinction … Son of Bailin and Wei Zhang.