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Back in the seventies and early eighties the RMC
team consisted of men’s teams in foil, épée and
sabre and only women’s foil. Since that time
fencing has grown to include women’s épée and sabre
bringing the teams total to six events. Winning the
cup is more difficult now with six teams, over 36
university and regional clubs entering over 180
fencing teams from Canada, the USA and Great
Britain. Over the course of the weekend over 500
competitors challenged each other with lightning
quick swordplay to win their matches and go for the
gold.
The formula for RMC’s success was consistency in
performance. The standing were as follows: Mens
Sabre 3rd out of 27 teams, Women’s Epee 4th
out of 27 teams, Men’s Epee 4th out of 38
teams, Women’s Sabre 6th out of 20 teams,
Men’s Foil 8th out of 39 teams, and
Women’s Foil 9th out of 30 teams. With
all teams finishing near the top of the pack RMC was
able to clearly lead the competition to win the
cup.
Both the men’s and women’s épée teams fought hard
all day finishing just short of the bronze medal.
III Ocdt Ben Schmidt, III Ocdt Dean Vogelsang and
rookie first year Ocdt Brendan Kilburn gave strong
performances all day and finished as the top OUA
team in their event. IV Ocdt Jeni Hoover, IV Ocdt
Sarah McRae and III Ocdt Erin McEachern also
achieved the position as the top OUA school in
Women’s Epee. The team cohesion, strong technical
skills and careful tactics put both teams in
excellent position for the upcoming OUA season. |
The highlight of the RMC teams’ weekend performances
however, resided with the power of the men’s sabre
team. IV Ocdt Norm Feng, II Ocdt John Im and II
Ocdt Dave Fedoruk blew the competition away
finishing 2nd overall after the first
round of competition. They attacked and parried
their way through consecutive Direct Elimination
rounds to find themselves in the Bronze medal match
against West Point. The match went hit for hit in
the tag team format with the final bout placing West
Point in the lead at 40 to 36. IV Ocdt Norm Feng
was the anchor for the final bout against Zellers of
West Point. Feng took to the piste, calm and
determined, making a grand salute to the
competition, the ref and his team. With the Red
Wall (the RMC cheering section) formed up behind him
Ocdt Feng worked his magic. The first part of the
bout saw Feng bring the score to 40 – 42. Feng and
Zellers exchanged hits until the nail biting moment
when the score was tied at 44 - 44. Both RMC and
West Point were holding their breath and on the edge
of their seats. The look on everyone’s faces,
including the DCdts Col Peters, was one of awe and
anticipation. With the final “En garde, Prêt,
Allez” Ocdt Feng moved forward and back with
cat-like footwork to land a single red light hit and
win the Bronze medal for RMC. The crowd erupted
lifting and launching Feng up into the
air…literally. This victory secured the Tournament
Cup for the Royal Military College for the first
time in twenty-two years. This achievement was
made even sweeter by the fact that it was won
against our long time challengers West Point
Military Academy!
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