Kirkland Captures House Fencing; Second Slot Grabbed by Winthrop

By completely dominating the epee bouts. Kirkland's swordsmen swept to the intramural fencing championships this week, edging Winthrop, 13-11. Led by Geoffrey Swett, Kirkland captured the first, third, and fourth places in the epees, and took fourth in the foils.

Swett triumphed in the epees and garnered his team's fourth-place finish in the foils, won by Dunster's Tommy Jones. Neal Carney of Lowell was top finalist in the sabre bouts, followed by Adams's Henry Kriegstein.

With Albert Lewis leading the way, Winthrop placed in the top five in all three events. Lewis captured second in the epees and finished third in both the foils and sabre. A fencer since the age of three. Lewis had no complaints about gaining no first-place finished. "All the bouts were very close and could have gone either way," he said.

Foil winner Tommy Jones could not be reached for comment, but runner-up Steve Landau of Quincy said that Jones was "the biggest moose I've ever fenced in my life. He was so strong that he kept knocking the sword out of my hand."

Behind Kirkland and Winthrop in the team results were Lowell and Dunster. Quincy and Adams tied for fifty, Leverett took sixth, and Eliot and Dudley finished in a scoreless tie for last.

Joe Mullin, Winthrop's ebullient athletic secretary, was full of praise for his team. "The fencing was a pleasant surprise for us," he said. "With our five winter championships plus this second-place finish, we're really closing the gap in the Strauss Cup race."