Three Fencers Make Up the Class of 2015

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Harvard men’s fencing team, led by head coach Peter Brand, has added three freshmen for the upcoming season. Each member of the Class of 2015 will compete in a different weapon.

The Crimson finished the 2010-11 season with a 19-2 record and a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships. The team had two All-American selections and eight All-Ivy honorees.

Peregrine Badger/Providence, R.I./Classical High School/Epee
Captained the RIFAC national team in 2009-11 … Finished in the top 16 at the Senior national championships in 2011 … Placed sixth at the Junior (Under 20) championships the last three years … Junior national champion in 2011 … Member of the Cum Laude Society in 2010…Gold medal winner in the Science Olympiad in 2010 … Uncle, James Owen, rowed crew at Harvard and graduated in 1974.

Brian Kaneshige/Maplewood, N.J./Columbia High School/Foil
Four-year letterwinner in fencing at Columbia High School … Named first team all-state four times … Two-time individual state champion and four-time district champion … Led Columbia to state championships in 2010 and 2011 … Went undefeated as a sophomore … Named 2009 Star-Ledger Boy’s Fencer of the Year … Member of the 2011 USA Junior national team that won gold at the World Championships in Dead Sea, Jordan … Member of the 2010 USA Cadet national team  … Finished first place individually at the Cadet World Cup in Paris and Junior Olympics in Memphis in 2010 … Placed second at the 2009 Junior World Cup in Montreal … Third-place finisher at the Junior World Cup in Germany in 2007 and Italy in 2011 … Winner of the Essex Award for outstanding Essex County high school scholar-athlete in 2011 … AP Scholar … Dartmouth Book Award winner … Plays the piano … His sister, Christina, was an All-Ivy League fencer at the University of Pennsylvania.

Alexander Ryjik/Alexandria, Va./Hayfield Secondary/Saber
Two-time member of the USA national fencing team in the Cadet/Junior World Championships in 2009 and 2010 … Gold medalist at the 2009 Team World Cup in England … Silver medalist at the 2009 Individual World Cup in Poland … First-place finisher in the Math League at Hayfield in 2009 … Volunteer coach for the National Fencing Foundation of Washington D.C. … Plays the violin.