Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND SPORTS BY JORDAN WELLS N otre Dame freshman fencer Axel doesn't come from your average family. His father, Ste- ven Kiefer, was a fencing team cap- tain at Duke. The elder's love for the sport was passed along to his three children — Alex, Lee and Axel. The oldest sib- ling Alex enrolled at Harvard in 2010- 11, winning the NCAA Individual Foil title as a fresh- man. Lee chose a different path than her older sister by committing to Notre Dame, but also would go on to win the NCAA Individual Foil title as a freshman (2013). Both of them teased the youngest, Axel, about following in their foot- steps. In the end, though, they gave the Lexington (Ky.) Paul Lawrence Dunbar product space to make his own choice — which led him to en- rolling at Notre Dame this fall. "We were all Duke fans until we started going through the college process and ended up at different schools," Axel said. "I got a lot of crap living in Kentucky because UK is so huge in all their sports. I was always against everyone as a Duke fan. "Then when it came down to my decision, both Alex and Lee were pull- ing for me, but they were also very mindful of letting me make my own decision. "It came down to Harvard and Notre Dame. And ultimately I just t h o u g h t N o t r e Dame was the bet- ter fit. They have great support for their student-ath- letes." The trio's pas- sion for the sport o f f e n c i n g w a s instilled from a young age. Axel recalled they originally started fenc- ing one to two times a week at a club in Louisville, Ky. — an 80-mile drive from their home in Lexington. Even- tually, his father was able to reel in former Egyptian National Team fencer Amgad Khazbak from Texas to Lex- ington to coach the three youngsters in the sport. Still, fencing wasn't always the runaway favorite sport for Axel. He played football and lacrosse through middle school, but fencing eventually Irish Fencing Is A Family Affair Freshman Axel Kiefer (above) has followed in the footsteps of his sister, Lee Kiefer, a three-time NCAA champion who is currently taking time off from school to prepare for the 2016 Summer Olympics. PHOTO COURTESY USAFENCING.ORG