With over 30 years of international level competition, as both a coach and an accomplished athlete, Jarek Koniusz enters his 18th year at the helm of MIT’s men’s and women’s fencing program. A four-time Northeast Fencing Conference Coach of the Year, he has built MIT fencing into a perennial powerhouse, qualifying 34 fencers to the NCAA Championship and guiding the Engineers to 17 New England Championship titles during his tenure.

Koniusz began his intercollegiate coaching career at Baruch College in 1990, first taking the helm of the men’s program. The following season, he was charged with leading both the men’s and women’s squads. After a two-year hiatus, Koniusz returned to the college ranks with his appointment at MIT in 1994, becoming just the second coach in the history of the women’s program.

Coached by Ed Korfanty, the current U.S. Olympic Team Coach who led Mariel Zagunis to Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008, Koniusz competed internationally for Poland’s national team for nearly two decades. He earned two individual medals at the World Championships (bronze in 1981 and silver in 1989) and was a gold medalist at the World Cup. In June 2012, Koniusz was appointed as a board member of the Korfanty Sports Foundation, whose mission is to increase support for fencing in the United States.

Koniusz holds a master’s of science degree from the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland and has earned the title of fencing master in sabre, epee, and foil. In 2002, he was honored by the Polish Fencing Federation with a Lifetime Achievement Award, given to the fencer who has made a lasting contribution to Polish fencing in its 75-year history. The same year Koniusz was selected by the U.S. Fencing Federation to coach the United States sabre team in the World Cup competition held at Koblenz, Germany. He also assisted with the bronze-medal winning U.S. men’s sabre team at the 2010 Junior World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Tan Trinh (’96) holds a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics & Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tan has been a coach for the MIT Fencing Team since 1997, after spending four years as a team member.

Davis Merritt has assisted the MIT Women’s and Men’s Varsity Fencing Teams since 2009.

Merritt has been with the Boston Fencing Club since he started fencing at the age of five. During his twenty years of fencing, his accomplishments have included under-13 national champion, two-time under-fifteen national champion, under-17 national champion, member of the 1997 national team and the 1995 Pan-Am team, two-time New England Division Champion, Bay State Games champion, NCAA All-American at St. John's University, U-19 North Atlantic Champion, and member of the under-20 and Division 1A national championship men's foil teams.

Arpad Horvath joined the MIT fencing coaching staff in October 2011, marking his second coaching stint in the collegiate ranks. He comes to Cambridge with a wealth of experience as a competitor at the intercollegiate and international levels.

Horvath began his coaching career at Stevens Institute of Technology as the epee coach from 2005-07. He then spent two seasons as the head coach at Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, N.Y. Horvath also served as the foil coach at the Manhattan Fencing Center and the epee coach at the North Shore Fencers Club. In addition, he has been an epee coach at the Brown University Fencing Summer Camp since 2006.

A 2005 graduate of St. John's University, Horvath earned a bachelor's degree in finance. Competing for the Red Storm, he was the NCAA individual epee champion in 2002 and 2004 while the team finished second overall in 2002. Representing his native Hungary in international competition, Horvath placed third at the 2003 World University Games in Daegu, South Korea. A three-time participant at the Junior World Championship, he contributed to Hungary's runner-up finish in 1998 and then captured second place as an individual two years later. A four-time Junior European Championship qualifier, Horvath was the 1997 individual champion and ranked second in 1999. He clinched the Cadet World Championship crown in 1997 and then finished third the following year.