Van Leeuwen Stars For Mediocre M. Fencers

Unlike its female counterparts, the men's fencing team ran like a used car with a broken gas pedal this year, crawling along for most of the season before its engine finally kicked in.

The squad poked along to a mediocre 3-8 season finish, and was completely shut down by its fellow Ivy musketeers (0-4 Ivy).

But the year wasn't totally disappointing. One swordsman, junior Kwame van Leeuwen finished the year by dancing all the way to the national championship.

Van Leeuwen won the NCAA fencing championship in the foil in March, sinking 16 opponents in a row to cruise to an undefeated tournament victory. The championship marked the realization of the three-year quest for the fencing captain, who finished third and second, respectively, in the tourney the two previous years.

The NCAA gold medalist also earned the Breed Medal and the most valuable fencer award, and was named to both the All-Ivy and All-American First Teams.

Despite van Leewen's butterfly-like performance, the rest of the squad began the season like an aged turtle, dropping its first eight matches to such powerhouses as Yale and Princeton.

The team only managed to pick up its pace during the last three matches, finishing strong with wins over Air Force, MIT and Boston University.

"I think that the team really finished up the season very well," senior saber-wielder Paul A. Legutko says. "It took us a little while to get started, but during the second half of the season we performed much better than we did in the first half."

High hopes over the strong women's team at the beginning of the season may have drawn attention away from the men, says Legutko. And an influx of inexperienced freshman may have stymied the team's momentum.

Besides Legutko, the tea will graduate three other seniors this year: fellow saber-weilder Charles Bertrand, and eppe-wielders Toby Lee and Adam Hirsch.

Coming into the season, it was the saber squad that offered the most promise, with all three starters returning from last year, including seniors Legutko and Bertrand.

But even the experienced fencers needed some jump-starting before they could "touch" their targets.

"At the beginning of the year, we were a little unsure, a little out of practice," says Legutko. The Adams House resident said it took time to get into a "full competitive mode" because he had taken a semester off last year and hadn't fenced for eight months.

Harvard's languid start my have also reflected new rules instituted in saber competition this year meant to slow down the action and make play more defensive.

But the saber rattlers still managed to finish with a respectable record of 5-4. And the saberites were the only squad a qualify for the northeast regional competition in New York, in which they finished fourth out of six teams. Both Bertrand and Legutko made it to the regional semifinals, with Bertrand coming in third overall in the saber.

Legutko says he was "fairly satisfied" with his personal performance, and that this year's team record was "basically the same" as year past.

MEN'S FENCING

Record: 3-8

Ivy League: 0-4

Key Players: Kwame van Leeuwen, Paul Baez, Peter Tang

Seniors: Toby Lee, Charles Bertrand, Adam Hirsch, Paul Legutko