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Fencers take it all in first-ever national championships
Competed against 17 other schools in the first-ever National Collegiate Club Fencing Championships.
Some of them got through high school without ever wielding a sword or even suspecting that they had athletic talent. But under the inspired guidance of Head Coach Brad Baker and Assistant Coach Taro Yamashita, 26 men and women from the University of Massachusetts Amherst spent last weekend at the University of Florida, competing against 17 other schools in the first-ever National Collegiate Club Fencing Championships. When it was all over, they were in first place.
The competing teams consisted of three male and three female fencers on each of three weapons: the ipie, the foil, and the sabre. The members of each threesome were rated A, B, or C and took on their peers from all of the other schools. At the end of the two-day competition each school’s victories were totaled to determine the overall winners.
UMass Amherst’s competence and composure were plainly evident throughout the meet. Its men scored 95 victories to share a title with Northwestern University. Its women, with 69 victories, placed second to host Florida, with 71. The school’s 164 total victories put it five over second-place Florida. The University also claimed squad titles in Men’s Foil and Women’s Ipie and tied for second in Men’s Ipie. The Men’s Foil squad Pat Reardon (11-3), Leo Cook (13-1), and Matt Franco (13-1), all Class of 2004 was especially strong.
Fencing is one of the sport clubs sponsored by the UMass Athletic Department and chartered by the Campus Activities Office. The sport clubs there are others in bicycle racing, rowing, lacrosse, rugby, and volleyball offer leadership and other growth opportunities to students of varying athletic backgrounds and abilities
Those who come to the club new to fencing pass through the Novice Program before joining the team. The most skilled and dedicated team members compete against the likes of Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, MIT, Brandeis, Dartmouth, the University of New Hampshire, and schools in New York and New Jersey. Some of these competing teams are league-affiliated and some are sport clubs; during the recent season, UMass Amherst competed in 18 club and 27 varsity meets, including those of the Northeast Fencing Conference, the New England Collegiate Club Fencing League, the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference, and the New England Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association.
The team eagerly anticipates next year’s championships, to be held much closer to home at the University of New Hampshire.