1999 RMC Invitational

Every year the RPI Fencing Club goes to Kingston, Ontario, Canada for an invitational tournament at the Royal Military College. This year the tournament was held on November 6 and 7 and was the thirtieth year for the tournament. RPI has been going for at least the past 20 years. Other US schools are invited but RPI is the only one that goes up every year. This year we fielded two men's foil, three men's épée, three men's saber, two women's épée, one women's foil and one women's saber teams. Our women's épée team took third and RPI came in fifth overall. A lot of fun was had by all, though most people were sleep walking by the time we got back to RPI a little after midnight Mon morning. An article about the trip will appear in the 17 Nov edition of the Polytechnic, RPI's newspaper.

Here are some club members trying to get the weapons working. No matter how many are fixed there always seems to be more waiting to be fixed. From left to right we have Mike Macri, Joel Johnson, Ethan Wivietsky, and Mike Robinson.

Like all tournaments, there is always some waiting around to be done. Either you are waiting for your turn on the strip or for your team to start fencing or for everyone else to finish so you can start the long drive home. Here we have (l - r) Joel Johnson, Kristy Danieli, Nicole Porter, Rod Meagher (in the background in red), and Brian LaBrake.

Here is our women's épée team accepting their third place medals. though of course no one is looking at the camera. From left to right they are Jenn Rutkunas, Holly Thurman, and Kristy Danieli.

A closer picture of the three. Looks like Kristy figured out someone is trying to take their picture.

Someone finally stopped them celebrating long enough to take their picture. This is the first time in eight years that RPI has medalled at the tournament. I wonder if any of the three wore there medals to class the next day? Again from left to right they are Jenn Rutkunas, Kristy Danieli, and Holly Thurman.

Two weeks ago on the 5 of November, the RPI Fencing Club drove to the Royal Military College (RMC/CMR) in Kingston Ontario, Canada with hopes of winning a medal. For the first time in eight years, the club succeeded with a bronze medal finish in Women’s Epée. The members of the Women’s Epée A Team were Kristy Danieli (Captain), Jenn Rutkunas, and Holly Thurman. Each member was overwhelmed by their fencing and couldn’t believe they had actually performed so well.

The RMC/CMR is the largest collegiate fencing tournament in Canada. RPI is one of two American teams that usually compete, the other being West Point. With over a dozen different colleges and non-collegiate clubs represented, each entering multiple teams, the experience level varies. One fencer might have been fencing their entire life while another began within the past few days.

The tournament is arranged by three weapons; epee, foil, and sabre, and segregated by male and female, creating 6 separate events. The overall team competition is based on the entire team’s performance in the 6 categories. Each of the weapons competes in the same fashion, with a team of three plus an optional alternate. Each member of the team fences everyone on the opposing team. Each bout lasts until the fencers reach the next 5 point increment. Each fencer is up three times and the total accumulated to win the bout is 45 touches. This allows for your best fencer to make up for mistakes towards the end of the bout.

The teams are arranged in pools of three or four teams each and the success and scoring from that will determine whether or not the team advances to the direct elimination. The direct elimination (DE) is usually the top 8 or 16 teams for that weapon depending on the number of teams registered.

The Women’s Epée A Team was the only RPI team in eight years to successfully fence their way to a medal. The other teams fenced well. The Men’s Epée A, B, and C Teams, the Women’s Foil Team, the Men’s Foil A and B Teams, and the Men’s Sabre A, B, and C Teams all made it into the direct elimination rounds. In the overall team competition, RPI placed 5th ahead of the RMC/CMR and others.