Some people might think fencing is an individual sport, but they don't think that way at St. John's Prep.
Head coach Jim Carter has taught his club that fencing is a team sport, because without everyone's contributions, a win would never be possible.
And perhaps Carter might just be on to something. After all, in his 15 years coaching at the Prep, his teams have brought home seven consecutive state titles — and are gearing up for number eight tomorrow morning.
"We're a team," explained Carter, when asked what makes the Eagles contenders each year. "Fencers tend to be individualists, where other programs have one very strong fencer in each weapon, our team is more balanced. We don't have superstars per se, we tend to have three (fencers) in each weapon who are pretty close in ability. This makes us stronger in dual meets, we may drop bouts to the top guys on the other team, but we win the rest."
This Eagles finished the regular season at a perfect 17-0, an impressive feat considering it wasn't one of the goals at the beginning of the season. The undefeated schedule even surprised Carter, as he wasn't expecting this particular team to get big wins over Concord Carlisle and Riverdale Country School (NY).
"This year we didn't expect to be undefeated," said Carter. "I expected to drop some, but it's a nice surprise when we did get those wins. I wouldn't have picked this team to go undefeated, but they've done very, very well and have come together as a team."
Carter has a lot of freshman go out for the team when they first get to the Prep. Most of them haven't fenced before, but the curiosity factor is appealing to them. About 20 percent out of those who start on the team in the ninth grade actually finish on the team senior year.
"My pitch is the same every year," added Carter. "All your life you've been told its not nice to hit other people. You fence for me, and not only do I tell you it's OK, I get mad at you if you don't, and I give you a big long pointy stick to do it."
Meredith Steyer, the assistant fencing coach, is one of Carter's former students, and also a member of several Penn State fencing championship teams. Carter began fencing in graduate school, while attending UMass. He ended up coaching at UMass Dartmouth and BU before coming to the Prep.
This season Carter has 60 kids on the squad, between him and Steyer; that gives a 30:1 ratio. Not every kid gets one on one time with the coaches, so Carter relies a lot on the older team members to help out.
"The older kids teach the younger kids and it builds respect, team unity and a desire to create a legacy," said Carter of his team. "We have alumni come back during college breaks to check up on some of their 'projects,' they take pride in the fact they are building a legacy.
"At the same time it also inspires the younger kids to keep up their end, none of this years team has any direct connection to the team our first States (2005) but they understand that the streak is now in their hands."
Although Carter hasn't finalized his roster yet for tomorrow's state meet, which will be held at Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge, he knows he can count on three of his seniors to lead the way.
Alex Charow is steady in the saber. Devin Burke is called the "quiet monster" and is solid in the é©pé©e, while Dan Burke never backs down in the foil.
The Eagles are the favorites going into tomorrow's clash.
"The team is ready," said captain Charow. "We have been working hard for the last three months, and everything has really been a build-up. We know we can win, and we are not going to give up. We are ready for a fight."
