Men's Fencing Strengthens Squad by Gaining Four Freshmen
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard head coach
Peter Brand recently announced the addition of four fencers for the
upcoming 2009-10 season.
The incoming class consists of two sabre, one epee and one foil
fencer. Both sabre fencers arrive from within the United States,
one from New Jersey and the other from Connecticut, while the foil
and epee fencers reside in Italy and England, respectively.
The Crimson finished in fifth place at the 2009 NCAA Championships
and second at the IFA Championships. Harvard ended the 2008-09
season with a 9-9 overall record and captured its first Beanpot.
The Crimson earned one All-America selection and one All-Ivy League
selection.
Tommasso di Robilant/Foil/Rome, Italy/Lycee
Chateaubriand de Rome
Captained the Club Scherma Roma fencing team in the 2008 Junior
National Fencing Championship … Won the 2008 Regional Italy
Cup Championship … Achieved a Top 10 Italian National Cadet
ranking in 2007-2008 … Ranked sixth at the 2004 National
Fencing Championship … National Cadet Championship finalist
in 2008 … Finished in the top 16 in the Italian National
Under-23 Championship.
Thomas Kolasa/Sabre/Princeton, N.J./Princeton
Won the gold medal at under-19 competition at North American Cup in
2008 … Placed sixth in under-17 World Cup in Hungary in 2006
… Claimed the silver in under-17 North America Cup in 2006
… Fenced to bronzed medal in under-20 Junior Olympics in
2006 … Captured the silver at Senior Team Nationals in San
Jose, Calif., in 2008 … National Merit Scholarship finalist
… National AP Scholar … American Fine Arts Laureate
in 2005 … Won high honors at the New Jersey Music Teachers
Association auditions in 2005 and 2007-08.
Michael Tom/Sabre/Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich
Winner of the gold medal at the 2009 United States Fencing
Association (USFA) Junior Olympics … Won bronze medal in
junior men's sabre at USFA National Championship in Texas ...
Claimed the bronze at the 2008 USFA Junior Olympics … Ranked
first in the 2008 USFA Cadet Men’s Sabre Championship
… Named first alternate for 2009 Cadet Men’s Sabre
World Championship … Helped USFA Junior Men’s Sabre
team to gold medal at 2007 and 2008 summer national championships
… Placed 16th in 2008 World Cup … Winner of the 2009
Gerber Medal by Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering
… Finalist at the 2009 Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Reno, Nev. ... National AP Scholar.
Ben White/Epee/Andover, England/Pete Symonds
College
Has competed in the epee since 1999 … The Great Britain
Under-16 champion and the GB cadet (U-17) champion … Member
of the England U-16, the England cadet (U-17) and the England
junior teams … Member of the Great Britain cadet and the GB
junior (U-20) squads … Ranked as the No. 1 Great Britain
cadet in 2006 and 2008, the No. 2 GB junior in 2009, the No. 8
European cadet in 2008, the No. 9 GB senior in 2008 and the No. 71
world junior in 2009 … Won one individual gold and one
individual silver and helped his team to two team golds and one
team silver at the UK School games from 2006-08 … Winner of
the individual and team golds at the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic
Festival … Won the bronze at the 2008 Gothenburg
International Cadet Championship … Won the team silver at
the 2009 Commonwealth Junior Fencing Championships …
Finished ninth at the 2008 European Cadet Championships …
Finished 25th at the 2009 World Junior Championships … Also
competed for Great Britain at the World Cadet Championships.
