St. Paul Academy hosted its annual fencing invitational on Jan. 12.  Schools and clubs from around the metro sent fencers to compete at SPA.  They found stiff competition in the home team.  SPA senior fencers Francesco DiCaprio and Marie Siliciano took 1st in men’s epée and 2nd in women’s epée, respectively.

This data is especially impressive when one considers the size of the meet.  Countless teams competed, with an estimated total of 150 fencers.  “In total for men’s epee and saber there were [approximately] 33 people each,” junior fencer Phillip Swanson said.  Swanson, an epee fencer, took 11th out of 33.”

Despite the invitational’s size and the success of SPA fencers, attendance by fans was low, a problem the fencing program has grown used to, but isn’t happy about.  “It’s nothing like a football game, where you get crowds of fans and whatnot,” Swanson said.  “Which should be changed, because fencing is awesome.  Everyone should watch it, because you get to watch people fight with swords and get stabbed… who doesn’t want to see that?”  Swanson’s classmate and teammate Katherine Jones agreed, saying that at this meet “The final [matches] were really intense.”  Jones herself took 9th in women’s epee.

The next step for the fencing team lies in Culver, Indiana, where the team travels every year for a weekend.  This year, the trip will be on Jan. 26.