APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University’s Alex Kaeding has been named the Midwest Fencing Conference Coach of the Year.
Kaeding, who just completed his first season as the Vikings’ head coach, captured the award in the wake of the Vikings finishing fourth in the combined team standings at the MFC Championships.
Kaeding, a 2009 Lawrence graduate and former standout fencer for the Vikings, shared the award with Jim Vesper of the University of Michigan.
Lawrence enjoyed a banner season with top finishes at the MFC Championships and nine Vikings were chosen for the all-conference team.
The Lawrence men’s team won the title in sabre at the conference championships and picked up victories over Ohio State in the semifinals and Michigan in the final. The Vikings finished second on the men’s side and trailed champion Ohio State by just 35 points. In addition to winning the sabre championship, men’s foil took second place and epee was fifth.
On the women’s side, Kaeding’s Vikings finished fifth overall. Epee placed fifth, foil took seventh and sabre was ninth.
Other awards went to Laurie Schiller of Northwestern, who was named Varsity Coach of the Year, and Michigan, which won Club Team of the Year.