People in the class of 2015

Matthew Laks lettered three times at Commack High School. During his sophomore year, he won the Brentwood Underclassman Challenge. During his Junior Year, he amassed nearly 30 wins and was selected as Second-team all-county. He also finished 2nd place in the Huntington Team Relay and 6th in the county championships. During his Senior year, Laks captained the Commack Men’s Fencing Team to a 11-3 record and finished with a personal record of 32-5. He was named First-Team All-County and First-Team All-Long Island with the highest winning percentage on Long Island for Saber. He was also named captain of the Suffolk County Senior All-Star Team, in which he went 3-0 to lead Suffolk County to a 26-1 victory over Nassau.

Recently, Laks won the Bronze medal at the USFA North American Cup in Detroit, Michigan, earning his C11. Matthew was also selected to the First Team USA Fencing All-Academic Team his Junior and Senior year of High School. Matthew Laks is a member of Island Fencing Academy and is coached by Boris Khurgin.

Matthew enjoys baseball, music and watching football when not fencing. He also greatly enjoys chillaxin’ and laxbroin’, staples of his everyday life. He is the son of Virginia and Marc Laks and has one sister, Melissa. Matthew is extremely excited to fence for Cornell and is confident the Saber squad will have a phenomenal year.

Before coming to Cornell, Adam fenced for four years on the varsity squad at Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro, NJ. He was epee squad captain during his sophomore and junior seasons. As a senior, Adam captained the entire team, leading the squad to an 8-2 finish, the best in team history. As a result, Bergen Tech was named the 2010-2011 North Jersey Team of the Year. While in high school, Adam was twice named All-League and fenced in the district finals and state tournament.

As a lover of reading, Adam is enrolled in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. In addition to fencing, he enjoys writing and witty repartee.