Swordsmen Finish Seventh in ECAC, End Disappointing Season With Loss

The Harvard men's fencing team ended its season with a disappointing seventh place finish in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament at Columbia, this weekend.

The University of Pennsylvania and MIT took first and second in the eleven team competition, which the Intercollegiate Fencing Association sponsored. Harvard won 44 out of 90 bouts to place ahead of only four teams.

"We had bad luck in both the sabre and foil competition, and that really hurt us," captain Jim Goldring said yesterday.

Hopes Slashed

In sabre, where they were hoping for a first, the swordsmen finished fourth, taking 17 of 30 matches, and losing second place by one touch in one match. Mike Bierer, David Heyman, and Goldring all lost pivotal 5-4 bouts in that competition.

In foil, too, Goldring said he was disappointed. David Hanower and David Merner lost key matches, and the swords-men, who could have finished third, came in a dismal ninth.

In epee, which has been Harvard's weak point this season, the swordsmen could do no better than seventh place.

Few Bright Spots

There were several bright spots in the match, Goldring said. Kent Libbey, in third position in foil, and Stan Samkange, who substituted in foil, had their best bouts of the year. Heymen in sabre also made it to the finals, Goldring said.

The loss is the latest disappointment in what has been an unsuccessful season. The team finished with a 3-8 record, its worst mark in recent history. In the Ivy league, the swordsmen lost five straight matches and won none.

Coach Branmir Zivkovic said yesterday that the record did not indicate the team's true performance this year. "We had plenty of talent this year, but we lost too many close matches. If we had won half of those matches, we would have had a considerably better record."

Goldring attributed the poor record to "a lack of confidence and lapses of concentration."

Zivkovik said he expects the swordsmen will do better in this Thursday's NCAA tournament. Many of the fencers should make it into the finals in the individual competitions, he added.

Goldring was also optimistic about the NCAAs, saying he expected the team to finish within the top ten or fifteen in the country. He added, "we are a national caliber team and expect to prove that."

Whatever the outcome of the NCAAs, Goldring said yesterday that the season has not been "totally fruitless." The performance of the younger swordsmen, notably freshmen Merner and Heyman, highlighted the season, he added.

"We should be a lot better next year and be incredibly strong in two years," he said.