Harvard Crimson fencing

The Harvard Varsity Fencing Team is a Division I sports team based in Cambridge, MA. Established in 1888, it was the first organized collegiate fencing team in the United States. The team competes in Ivy League, Eastern Conference, and National level competition. It is considered one of the top fencing programs in the nation and won first place in the 2006 NCAA fencing championships.

File:2006HFT.jpg

2006 Men's and Women's Championship Team

History

The Early Years (1888-1999)

The Harvard Fencing Club was established by 35 charter members in 1888. Official meetings of the club were often always followed by a ‘smoker’ or an evening of musical entertainment. It was declared as an official varsity sports team by the Harvard University Athletic Committee in 1901.

One of the first intercollegiate fencing tournaments took place May 5, 1894, at the New York Racquet and Tennis Club. Harvard defeated Columbia, 5-4, to win the title. J. E. Hoffman '96 was victorious in the decisive bout to gain the Crimson the championship. This tournament, later called the intercollegiate Fencing Association Tournament (IFA’s) or the East Coast Athletic Conference Tournament (ECAC’s), is the one of the oldest continually contested collegiate athletic competition in the United States. The famous “Iron Man” trophy presented at this competition is THE oldest continually awarded trophy in collegiate athletics. Harvard won the second IFA Tournament as well, defeating Columbia by a 6-3 score, and A.G. Thacher '97 became the school's first IFA title holder by winning the individual championship. In 1896, Harvard topped Columbia and Navy to win its third straight crown. In 1899, George H. Breed, who went on captain the 1912 and 1924 U.S. Olympic Teams, won the IFA individual title and led Harvard to its fifth team title of the decade.

On February 26, 1902, Harvard and Yale fenced in a dual meet for the first time, with the Crimson winning, 5-4. Previously, the schools had only met at the intercollegiate championships. Accompanying the team for that year's IFA Tournament was M. Pierre Pianelli, who became the University's fencing instructor the following season, and eventually was named the Harvard fencing team's first official coach. Harvard and Columbia held their first dual meet on February 14, 1903, with the host Crimson defeating the Lions, 7-2.

M. J.J. Leslabay became the team's coach in 1910. In his second season, led Harvard back to the IFA finals for the first time since 1906. His squads did their civic duty as well, as members of the Crimson and BAA fencing teams enacted the dueling scene in a production of "Cyrano de Bergerac" at Boston's Colonial Theatre in March 1915. The play was a wartime benefit for the Belgian Relief fund.

In 1916, Harvard sophomore W.H. Russell became the first undergraduate in any college to reach the finals of the National Amateur Championship and the youngest man to ever win the title. The 1919 team placed second at the IFA's with E.R. Gay '19 taking second in the individual competition. At the conclusion of that year, Prof. Jean Louis Danguy, the coach of the 1912 Olympic Team, took charge of the Harvard fencing program. His first captain was R. H. Snow '20, who won a Rhodes scholarship, which he used to study poetry at Oxford. Harvard returned to the winners' circle at IFA's in 1923. The Crimson won the foil title for the first time in 23 seasons, behind the efforts of twins E.L. Lane '24 and E.H. Lane '24, who placed second and third, respectively, in individual competition. They repeated that impressive feat in 1924.

M. Rene Peroy, who invented and patented a revolutionary fencing machine designed to afford better practice, took over as Harvard's fencing coach in 1929. He was at the helm when Harvard moved to its current home at the Indoor Athletic Building (now the Malkin Athletic Center), and held his post until 1952. Harvard won the 1931 IFA foil championship and the 1934 and 1935 epee titles under his tenure. Among his many stars was John G. Hurd '36, a member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic Team who won the individual foil title at the 1934 IFA's to become Harvard's first champion in 37 years. In Peroy's "second era" as head coach--following World War II--he guided Joe Vera '50 to the IFA foil crown.

Edo Marion, named Harvard coach in 1953, guided the program for 23 years and coached 11 All-Americans, 26 All-Ivy selections, and four Rhodes Scholars.

Harvard hosted the 1964 NCAA Championships, welcoming 40 schools to Cambridge. The Crimson placed ninth in the event, which was won by Princeton. In 1969, Tom Keller '71 and Larry Cetrulo '71 were both First Team All-Americans and helped the Crimson place second as a team. Cetrulo was a three-year All-American who finished with an incredible Ivy dual record of 41-4. Marion was also at the helm when Harvard won its first Ivy League championship, sharing the title with Columbia and Cornell in 1974. Ben Zivkovic was named head coach in 1976--after tenures at West Point, Columbia, and Fairfield. He continued the men's tremendous success while establishing a strong Women’s Fencing Team. In the fall of 1976, Radcliffe women’s fencing was incoporated into the Harvard fencing program. Since then, the men and women’s team held practices together.

Among Zivkovic’s early accomplishments were guiding the Crimson to the 1977 IFA epee co-championship, the program's first since 1935. His '77 squad also captured a share of the Ivy title. Zivkovic's 1977 women's team placed fourth out of 15 schools at the New England Fencing Championships and, the following year, defeated perennial women's powerhouse Brandeis, 9-8. The 1981 men's team won the IFA foil championship, its first such title in a half-century, while the women captured the NEWIFA title. In 1984, Steve Kaufer '84 became Harvard's first IFA epee champion.

In 1986, Harvard christened its modern fencing room at the MAC with a 16-11 win over Princeton, defeating the Tigers for the first time in 20 years. On the women's side that year, Kristina Perkin '89 became the program's first-ever NEWIFA individual titlest, while Penelope Papailias '88 captured the 1987 and 1988 NEWIFA crowns.

The 1987 season was highlighted by Jim O'Neill '88 capturing Harvard's first NCAA Championship, winning the epee title. O'Neill went on to become an Olympian in 1992. Kwamme van Leeuwen '94 became the school's second NCAA champ when he captured the 1994 foil title. For the women, the 1996 season marked a breakthrough as Harvard won its first IFA crown. More recently, Jill Katz '98 and her sister Emily '02 became Harvard's first female All-Americans. Jill was seventh nationally in the foil in 1997, while Emily took 11th in the same event in 2000.

The Brand Years (1999 - present)

In the years following, Harvard men’s first Ivy League Title with Columbia and Cornell in 1974, there were few major three-squad victories to speak of.

In the 1999-2000 season, Peter Brand took on the position of Head Coach. A native of Israel who emigrated to the United States at age 13, Brand was a member of the 1972 U.S. Junior Fencing Team and the gold medalist at the Ottawa Shield in 1973. He placed seventh at the 1975 Canadian National Championships and fourth at the 1985 U.S. Championships. Brand participated in the 1987 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival, and in 1989 was a gold medalist for the U.S. at the Maccabiah Games. He spent six years as the head men’s and women’s coach at Brown University and previously served as an assistant coach at MIT. Peter Brand ran a rigorous program that required his fencers to practice seven times a week, which included five 2.5 hour drill and bouting sessions as well as two hours of morning strength training. The hard work paid off starting in the 2002-03 season. Both the men's and women's teams captured Northeast Fencing Conference championships, and finished eighth in the NCAA Championships. Additionally, the men were the IFA Saber Champions, paced by All-Americans Tim Hagaman ‘06 and David Jakus ‘06. In addition, classmate Julian Rose ‘06 earned All-America honors in epee. On the women's side, Chloe Stinetorf ’06 earned All-America honors , while both Anne Austin '06 and Eunice Yi '04 turned in All-Ivy performances.

During Brands tenure, the Crimson women’s team won their first Ivy League Championships ever in the 2004-2005 season and the men shared a part of the Ivy title for the first time since 1974.

The Dream Team

The 2005-2006 Harvard Fencing Team is considered one of the best in Harvard History. With the guidance of Head Coach Peter Brand and assistant coaches Guogang Wen and Gamal Mahmoud, the men’s team had an undefeated season in duel meets and the women’s team came away with just one loss. This season also marked the first outright Ivy League Championship ever for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Harvard won almost every event at the IFA/ECAC championships in 2006. The Crimson left the competition with the combined weapon trophy for men and women, the women’s combined weapon trophy, the men’s combined weapon trophy, the women’s saber and foil trophies, and the men’s saber and epee trophies.

Finally, the season finished off when the Crimson won the NCAA Championship for the first time. Harvard finished the four-day event with 165 total victories, six more than nine-time champion Penn State, which had 159. Harvard held off the traditional powers of Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, St. John's and Columbia -- which between them had won all 16 previous NCAA titles since the combined championship was introduced in 1990.

This victory marked the fourth NCAA championship in the history of Harvard's athletics. The fencing team joined the 1989 men's ice hockey team, the 1990 women's lacrosse team, and the 2003 women's rowing team as NCAA champions. The title was the 138th national championship in Harvard's history and the first in fencing since Harvard's men won the 1934 epee championship.

The 2006 Ivy League/IFA (ECAC)/NCAA Championship team members:

Women Anne Austin, Foil, ‘06, Dearborn, Mich. Chloe Stinetorf, Foil, ‘06, Piedmont, Calif. Amy Li, Saber, ‘06, Mamaroneck, N.Y. Precious Eboigbe, Epee, ‘07, Rahway, N.J. Jasmine McGlade, Epee, ‘07, Boulder, Colo. Caitlan McLoon, Epee, ‘07, Roseville, Minn. Arielle Nagler, Foil, ‘07, New York, N.Y. Emily Cross, Foil, ‘08, New York, N.Y. Samantha Parker, Saber, ‘08, Rockville Centre, N.Y. Alexa Weingarden, Saber, ‘08, Edina, Minn. Carolyn Wright, Saber, ‘08, Arllington, Va. Maria Larsson, Epee, ‘09, Stolkholm, Sweden Elizabeth Bast, Foil, ‘09, Fort Washington, Pa. Lisa Vastola, Foil, ‘09, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.

Men David Jakus, Saber, ‘06, Bronx, N.Y. Julian Rose, Epee, ‘06, Denver, Colo. Sam Cross, Foil, ‘07, New York, N.Y. Timothy Hagamen, Saber, ‘07, New York, N.Y. Ian Lindblom, Epee, ‘07, Mamaroneck, N.Y. Daniel Sachs, Saber, ‘07, Plano, Texas Enoch Woodhouse, Foil, ‘07, Boston, Mass. John Lin, Saber, ‘08, Dallas, Texas Edward Sherrill, Epee, ‘08, Short Hills, N.J. Benjamin Ungar, Epee, ‘08, Bronx, N.Y. Scott DiGiulio, Saber, ‘09, Bronx, N.Y. Craig Gorin, Saber, ‘09, Berkeley Heights, N.J. Kai Itameri-Kinter, Foil, ‘09, North Attleboro, Mass.

Sources

• Dorfman, R.L. & Friends of Harvard Fencing. Le Grand Salut: One Hundred Years of Harvard Fencing (1989)
• GoCrimson.com <http://gocrimson.cstv.com/sports/m-fenc/archive/012005aac.html>