Jan. 21, 2002

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Four Notre Dame fencers competed in Monday’s final rounds of the four-day South Bend North American Cup at the Century Center, with junior captain Ozren Debic (Zagreb, Croatia) posting an 11th-place finish in the men’s foil competition while freshman Derek Snyder (Chatsworth, Calif.) had a solid 26th-place showing against a field comprised mostly of fencers older than the promising 18-year-old.

Notre Dame fencers combined to post 10 top-12 finishes at the NAC, an elite tournament hosted by the United States Fencing Association.

Fifth-year captain Carianne McCullough and freshman Destanie Milo also competed in Monday’s 48-fencer conclusion of the women’s sabre competition, as did former two-time Notre Dame epee All-American Nicole Mustilli-who finished eighth in the sabre field.

Debic bested several noteworthy fencers, including 13th-place finisher Nontapet Panchan of Penn State (the 2001 NCAA runner-up) and 14th-place finisher Kevin Eriksen, an All-American from Columbia who placed 12th at the 200 NCAAs.

Several collegiate rivals finished ahead of Debic, including third-place finisher Jed Dupree of Columbia (the 2001 NCAA champion) and two who tied for sixth place: Yale Cohen of the University of Pennsylvania (10th at 2001 NCAAs) and Jonathan Tiomkin, whose sixth-place finish helped St. John’s win the 2001 NCAA title (ND and SJU will clash next Sunday at the NYU Duals).

Dan Kellner won the foil title, followed by Canadian national Josh McGuire, Cedric Amen of Luxembourg and Dupree.

Caitlin Thompson won the women’s sabre title, followed by Yale’s Sada Jacobson (the 2001 NCAA champion).

Notre Dame top performers during the four-day event (see below) included men’s captains Jan Viviani (epee), Andre Crompton (sabre) and Debic, plus a talented core of youngsters led by sophomore women’s epeeist Kerry Walton and four freshmen: men’s epeeist Michal Sobieraj, women’s foilists Alicja Kryczalo and Andrea Ament, and Snyder.

Notre Dame’s Top Finishers at the South Bend North American Cup

2nd … Alicja Kryczalo (women’s senior foil)

2nd … Andrea Ament (women’s junior foil)

3rd … Michal Sobieraj (men’s senior epee)

5th … Andrea Ament (women’s senior foil)

5th … Kerry Walton (women’s junior epee)

6th … Jan Viviani (men’s senior epee)

7th … Kerry Walton (women’s senior epee)

7th … Derek Snyder (men’s junior foil)

10th … Andre Crompton (men’s senior sabre)

11th … Ozren Debic (men’s senior foil)