High 5: Dana Hall Fencing Team

Perennial New England Powerhouse For Over 2 Decades

The High 5 Athlete for Friday, March 2, is the perennially strong Dana Hall School girls fencing team (pictured, right). The program began as a varsity sport in 1978, and from its start its been successful. Once again, the year The Hall are the defending New England fencing champions, with several athletes who go on to compete in nationals and the Junior Olympics. "They have risen to the occasion, and have alwasy continued to rise to the occasion," coach Carol Enis Simpson said. "And since we've always done so well, there simply has been no time for a fall." This season, almost 60 girls tried out for the 15 coveted varsity spots. That kind of competition fosters not just the best fencers, but the best teammates -- something coach Zoran Tulum says is essential.

See Mike Lynch's Report "You're not fighting the blade, you're fighting the person," Tulum said. "So you have to know and understand people to do well." Hall fencer Maggie Mink calls the sport "mentally and emotionall draining. Each match is about three minutes, and you have maybe three matches in a meet. But when you're done the meet, you're just wiped out." Fencer Kristen Clark says the sports has given her "a different type of mentality in life. It's all up to you. You can't blame your teammates, or your parents -- it's all in your hands." High 5, a weekly look at a Massachusetts high school athlete, is in its 16th year of providing Channel 5 viewers an indepth look at one of the Bay State's finest. Check here every week to see who Mike Lynch picks to win this week's award. Previous High 5s: