Sabre squad leads M. Fencing to 17-10 victory over Harvard

It may not have looked like much on paper, but the final bout in the Penn men's fencing team's 17-10 defeat of Harvard Saturday was a meaningful symbol for this year's Quakers team. Sophomore Mike Fox, who was fencing his only bout of the day, faced off in the finale against defending NCAA foil champion Kwame Van Leeuwen. Penn (5-3, 2-1 Ivy League) had already clinched a victory, and most everyone expected the Crimson fencer to coast to his third straight victory. Except for Fox. Buoyed by the cheering and encouragement from teammates who had all gathered around him, Fox fought Van Leeuwen to a 4-4 tie, leaving the bout to be decided by the last touch. To Penn's dismay, Van Leeuwen showed his championship poise and captured the final point to keep his perfect day intact. But that did not destroy Fox's accomplishment. He refused to be intimidated by the best fencer in the country, and battled him to the end. That effort is a microcosm of the mettle behind these Quakers. A complete team performance was the storyline of Penn's convincing win over Harvard. The epee squad recovered from an eight-loss day against Princeton Tuesday to post a winning record, while the sabre squad continued its brilliance and led the team to victory. It was Penn's fourth win in the past five matches. "It was a good bounce-back win after the Princeton loss. The hunger was there, and eventually so was their concentration," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. The sabre team's dominating performance was at the heart of Penn's win Saturday. All-American George Kalmar, who has not lost a bout in two meets, set the match's tone with a 5-0 drubbing of Peter Tang to open the day. "Sabre did a great job today, but I don't even think that they've reached their potential," Micahnik said. Also responsible for the win was the much improved play of epee. It rebounded from Tuesday's whipping to earn a 6-3 record. "It's pleasing especially after our embarrassment against Princeton," captain Ed Skyler said. "We're going to need epee to do well if we're going to beat Penn State and Columbia next week." Although Saturday was successful, Micahnik believes the team will have to fence even better next Saturday against Columbia and Penn State in New York. One concern for the Quakers will be the perennial powerhouse Nittany Lions, but of even more importance is gaining first place in the Ivy League. With one match left, Penn trails Princeton by one match, and the Tigers must lose to Yale while the Quakers tame the Lions for Penn to grab a piece of the coveted title.