March 12, 2011
DETROIT, Mich. – Freshman foilist Rachel Beck and senior sabreuse Eileen Hassett turned in gold medal performances at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday afternoon inside the Matthaei Center on the campus of Wayne State University.
Both fencers earned automatic qualification into the 2011 NCAA Championship field by virtue of finishing first overall in their respective weapons. All told, the Irish women won six medals on the day as Hayley Reese earned silver in foil, Abigail Nichols earned silver in sabre and Ewa Nelip and Courtney Hurley earned silver and bronze, respectively, in epee.
Beck entered final pool play as the fourth overall seed after going 4-2 with a +5 indicator in the second round of pool play. However in the final pool table the freshman posted a 7-2 record along with a +14 indicator to claim the gold. Reese finished one win behind Beck with a record of 6-3 and a +9 indicator, claiming the silver by virtue of a better touch margin than Ohio State’s Oksana Dmytruk, who won bronze.
Other Irish results in the foil saw Darsie Malynn finish fifth with a record of 5-4 and a +6 indicator, while Radmila Sarkisova finished sixth at 5-4 and a +0 indicator and Grace Hartman placed eighth at 4-5.
Hassett made it back-to-back gold medals at the NCAA Midwest Regionals after posting a near flawless final pool record of 8-1 with a +18 indicator. She entered as the final pool’s third seed after going 5-1 with a +11 indicator in the qualifying round. Last season Hassett held fellow teammate Sarah Borrmann to claim the title while this year it was her teammate Nichols that put together a gritty finals performance for the silver. Nichols ended with a 6-3 record and a +11 indicator to earn second over Allison Miller (6-3, +4) of Ohio State.
Lian Osier finished just outside the medals, claiming fourth place with a 5-4 record and a +5 indicator, while Borrmann finished sixth with an identical 5-4 record with a +2 indicator.
In epee, Nelip marked her return to NCAA postseason play with a silver medal performance that saw her go 8-1 with a +13 indicator to earn a spot in the direct elimination championship bout. She was unable to claim first, however, as Katarzyna Dabrowa of Ohio State held on for a 5-4 decision.
Hurley’s bronze medal performance was locked up by the junior putting together a 6-3 final pool record with a +16 indicator – the highest total of any of the final fencers – but due to the three losses she could finish no higher than third.
Diane Zielinski was the only other Irish entrant in epee competition, going 2-7 in the final pool and finishing ninth overall.
The Midwest Regional concludes tomorrow when the men’s portion of the competition is contested. Fencing gets underway at 9:00 a.m. (ET) as the Irish look to secure the maximum 12 individual spots at the 2011 NCAA Championship, which will be hosted by Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on March 23-27.
Be sure to check back with und.com for a complete recap of the second and final day of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
WOMEN'S FOIL1. Rachel Beck, Notre Dame2. Hayley Reese, Notre Dame3. Oksana Dmytruk, Ohio State4. Dayana Sarkisova, Northwestern5. Darsie Malynn, Notre Dame6. Radmila Sarkisova, Notre Dame7. Allison Henvick, Ohio State8. Grace Hartman, Notre Dame9. Devynn Patterson, Northwestern10. Tiaja Sabrie, Wayne State11. Olivia Dobbs, Wayne State12. Irisa Chen, Northwestern13. Camille Provençal-Dayle, Northwestern14. Rachel Broderick, Wayne State15. Fanni Ladoczki, Ohio State16. Stephanie Lee, Cleveland State17. Caitlyn Hoglund, Lawrence18. Dorothea Schurr, Lawrence
WOMEN'S SABRE1. Eileen Hassett, Notre Dame2. Abigail Nichols, Notre Dame3. Allison Miller, Ohio State4. Lian Osier, Notre Dame5. Margarita Tschomakova, Ohio State6. Sarah Borrmann, Notre Dame7. Falencia Miller, Ohio State8. Chloe Grainger, Northwestern9. Kaja KÃ…'odawska, Wayne State10. Emily Cheng, Ohio State11. Elisabeth Sachs, Northwestern12. Jillian Mahen, Northwestern13. Annelise Eeman, Northwestern14. Madeline Cooper, Lawrence15. Katie Bryce, Wayne State16. Eve Berndt, Detroit
WOMEN'S EPEE1. Katarzyna DÃ"…browa, Ohio State2. Ewa Nelip, Notre Dame3. Courtney Hurley, Notre Dame4. Caroline Piasecka, Ohio State5. Kate Cavanaugh, Northwestern6. Dina Bazarbayeva, Northwestern7. Karalina Collins, Northwestern8. Alex Dickinson, Cleveland State9. Diane Zielinski, Notre Dame10. Tasha Domashovetz, Ohio State11. Nicole Tilley, Northwestern12. Laura Gurnowski, Ohio State13. Charlotte Reed, Wayne State14. Desirée Kelly, Wayne State15. Mariah Wilkerson, Lawrence
–ND–