Bayer wins third U.S. title

By Rick Haggerty Penn has seen its fair share of top athletes this past year -- an All-American track runner, a third-round NFL draft choice and several first team All-Ivy Leaguers head the impressive list. Very few of those athletes, however, can claim to be the nation's absolute best in their respective sports. Junior Cliff Bayer can make that claim. Last weekend, Bayer defended his U.S. Division I Senior National Fencing title in the men's foil with a 15-1 thrashing of Dan Kellner in the finals of the championships held last Friday through Monday in New York City. This victory marks the third U.S. national title for Bayer, who won the championship in 1995 and 1997 and took the silver medal in 1996. Winning the title not only makes Bayer the U.S. champion in the foil, but it also places him atop the national point standings. Bayer, who represented both Penn and the New York Athletic Club at the U.S. Nationals, had held the top spot since 1995. However, he had recently fallen to third while not participating in enough tournaments. Points are awarded by how well fencers fare in various circuit and national tournaments. Circuit tournaments usually host 150-200 fencers, but only 50-60 fencers qualify to participate in the U.S. Nationals. "[The U.S. Nationals] are more condensed and faster, but also a lot harder," Bayer said. The national tournament is especially more difficult for those fencers unlucky enough to fence Bayer. Since the senior division is open, Bayer faced fencers of various ages. In the quarterfinals, he had little difficulty in beating 27-year old Zaddick Longenbach -- who is currently ranked second behind Bayer in the foil -- by a score of 15-6. After that victory, Bayer went on to win what he described as "the most exciting bout of the tournament," a 15-14 triumph over Egyptian-born Maher Hamza. Bayer had trailed 14-12 in the bout before touching Hamza for the final three points and the win. With his victory in the semifinals, Bayer secured a meeting with Kellner, a very familiar face, in the finals. In last year's U.S. finals, Bayer barely squeaked out a 15-14 victory over Kellner, a recent Columbia graduate. Bayer also beat Kellner in the bronze medal foil bout at the 1998 NCAA tournament. "The guy Cliff faced in the finals usually gives him trouble, but he blew him away like grass in the wind," Penn fencing coach Dave Micahnik said. Bayer's ease in defeating Kellner may be related to the training process he had followed in the preceding weeks. Bayer, the captain of the U.S. National Fencing Team, was invited with the rest of the U.S. team to participate in a training session in Portugal from May 18-22. The Portuguese Fencing Association invited teams from the U.S., Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Iran and Poland to take part in the five-day training session, which was followed by a competition. In the tournament, Bayer was the only American to advance into the round of 32. After losing to the eventual third-place finisher from Germany, Bayer placed 23rd overall. With a third U.S. championship under his belt, Bayer will be training this summer for October's World Fencing Championships in Switzerland. As one of only four fencers on the U.S. team, Bayer will be hoping to improve America's international fencing reputation before the 2000 Olympic Games. "We're getting better," Bayer, a 1996 Olympian, said. "Hopefully, if we take some time off and train seriously, we can turn some heads." Bayer, who did not finish as high as he would have liked at the 1996 Games, also hopes to improve his own standing before Sydney. "Being in the Olympics was great, but to go and compete and not do as well as you could leaves you feeling incomplete," Bayer said. Another accomplishment Bayer would like to complete is helping the Penn team win the overall NCAA title. He realizes, however, that this goal may not be realistic until his senior year when the team will be more experienced. Although he won the NCAA individual foil title as a freshman, the team title is still his ultimate goal. "There is nothing like winning the overall title," Bayer said. "There is only one overall [champion], but there are many individuals." There may be many individual champions, but if the Penn or the U.S. fencing teams achieve success, much of that success may be caused by one individual -- Cliff Bayer.