Harvard men's fencer Jim O'Neill captured the individual epee fencing championship last week at the NCAA championships held in South Bend, Ind.

The Concord native became the first Harvard fencer ever to snag the award as well as Harvard's first individual NCAA champion since 1979.

Fencing the nation's best, O'Neill posted an impressive 17-1 mark at NCAAs after qualifying two weeks earlier with a third place finish in the Intercollegiate Fencing Championships.

O'Neill captured the national title with a last-minute comeback in the championship final, knocking off defending champion Chris O'Loughlin of Penn.

Trailing 8-6, O'Neill tallied four of the bout's final five touches to defeat his Quaker counterpart, 10-9.

Only a junior, O'Neill has already garnered First Team All-Ivy honors each of his first two seasons. Having turned in a sparkling 29-4 (12-3 Ivy) regular-season record, the Kirkland House resident is in good position to become only the 14th Ivy fencer ever to collect that honor three times.

For his achievements on the fencing strip over the course of the past week, Harvard's Jim O'Neill earns this week's spotlight.

Spotlight appears every Tuesday inThe Crimson.