Since 1990, New Trier High School has won 9 girls conference championships and 18 boys conference championships under Colby Vargas’ head coaching. No other conference rival has even half of the combined 27 victories in that span. 

As his long career comes to an end, junior Ethan Zhou recognizes it will be hard to repeat the success the program has had.

“Coach Vargas was a very integral part of our culture and leadership throughout the years,” Zhou said. “Now that that’s changing, a lot of people don’t know what to expect.” 

Fencing was almost nothing at New Trier when Vargas came in. With only five teams in the conference and only around 20 kids on the team, it took years of work from both the coaches and the players to grow the team.

“I walked to every advisery and did a little song and dance about how great fencing is,” Vargas said. “The team did some demonstrations in the cafeteria, probably pretty dangerous, but that sort of thing attracted people.”

The team quickly found success. The Trevians won seven straight championships in the 90s and seemed unstoppable. By this point, the size of the program had grown to nearly 100 players.

However, the streak ended when a snowstorm prevented New Trier from appearing at the championship. Although other teams from the conference went, New Trier’s team decided to stay home as a matter of safety.

“I was fielding phone calls from the host school that was upset we weren’t coming, then our kids were coming into the office quite upset,” Vargas said. “It was pretty frustrating because we thought we had it.”

New head coach Shawn Smith will lead the team after being both a player and assistant coach for Vargas. With his experience as a coach at New Trier and collegiate fencer at Michigan State University, players and coaches feel he’s fit to uphold the program’s legacy.

“Being that it’s the first season I’m in charge, I’m just looking for a solid season,” Smith said. “Obviously, the goal every season is to end up on top, but it’s been a building year.”

With several new coaches and new areas to practice in, the Trevians believe they can make Coach Smith’s opening season successful. Much of this is a result of leadership from the players.

“It’s not really the coaches that lead our team; it’s mainly the varsity players that lead each of the weapons themselves,” Zhou said. “They’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting and leadership as part of being a team captain.”

The renovations to the East Wing have made practice much more effective this season. Along with gaining access to gym space rather than the cafeteria floor, the team has been able to use weightlifting facilities for the first time.

Senior captain Sebastian Otchkov has appreciated the ability to work on strength as a team this year.

“I was trying to get people in general to do it because it’s a good habit to have to have more wrist control and whatnot,” Otchkov said. “The new gym is a lot easier and they have a whole training regimen, so it’s a lot nicer.”

With solid performances in their first matches, the coaching transition hasn’t held the Trevians back thus far. Preparation has been as hard, if not more difficult, than ever for meets, and the goal remains to win the conference championship. 

Vargas hopes to see this work pay off in the meets he attends, now as a spectator.

“Coach Smith has been assisting with me for probably 20 years, so over the last few years I’ve been handing more and more things over to him,” Vargas said. “He’s as accomplished a fencing coach as I am. He’s done all sorts of camps, he’s competed at all levels, so the quality of coaching will continue to be great.”

This story was originally published on New Trier News on December 5, 2023.