March 10, 2012
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The University of Notre Dame women’s fencing squad posted four top-three results on the opening day of the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Saturday in Woodling Gymnasium on the campus of Cleveland State. Sabreuse Lian Osier and foilist Madison Zeiss finished second, while foilist Grace Hartman and epeeist Ashley Severson placed third.
Osier finished the day with the most impressive record amongst all Irish entrants, concluding pool play with a stellar 14-1 record and a +55 indicator. Ohio State’s Margarita Tschomakova, however, matched her 14 victories to force a fence-off for automatic qualification to the NCAA Championship. Despite having beaten Tschomvakova 5-2 in pool play, Osier fell to her Buckeye counterpart in the decisive match, 5-3.
Abigail Nichols earned the second-best Irish finish in women’s sabre after placing seventh with a 9-6 pool play mark and a +18 indicator. Kathryn Palazzoto (eighth) and Beatriz Almeida (10th) closed out the Notre Dame entrants, finishing with records of 8-7 (+6) and 7-8 (-4), respectively.
Zeiss, meanwhile, led a five-member Irish contingent into foil competition. The freshman from Los Angeles, Calif., narrowly missed out on the regional title, falling to Ohio State’s Mona Shaito by one bout. Zeiss ended her day with a 16-3 record and a +45 indicator, while Shaito concluded at 17-2 with a +59 indicator.
The Irish earned another top-three result in foil, as Hartman finished right behind Zeiss with a 15-4 record and a +40 indicator. Adriana Camacho and Radmila Sarkisova finished in sixth and seventh for the Irish, with records of 14-5 and 12-7, respectively, while Rachel Beck (11-8) earned the fifth top-10 Irish finish in the event with her ninth-place showing.
Women’s epee saw only three members of the squad enter, with Severson claiming the highest finish of the group in third. The freshman posted a 10-3 mark on the day with a +20 indicator, while fellow Irish freshman Nicole Ameli matched that mark but, based on her +18 indicator, finished fifth overall. Channing Foster concluded the day in ninth place with a 6-7 record and a -3 indicator.
Sunday sees the men take to the strip to conclude the 2012 NCAA Midwest Regionals. James Kaull, Michael Rossi and Dale Purdy will represent men’s epee, Enzo Castellani, Reggie Bentley, Nickolas Kubik and Grant Hodges men’s foil and Jason Choy, Kevin Hassett, Alexander Coccia and Keith Feldman men’s sabre. Albert He (epee) and Nicholas Crebs (foil) traveled as alternates.
Fencing gets underway at 9:00 a.m. (ET) as the Irish look to secure the maximum 12 individual spots at the 2012 NCAA Championship, which will be hosted by Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, March 22-25. Be sure to check back with UND.com for a complete recap as the Irish look to claim up to three automatic berths to the Championship.
Women's Epee Results:1 Courtney Dumas NORTHWESTERN2 Kate Cavanaugh NORTHWESTERN3 Ashley Severson NOTRE DAME4 Caroline Piasecka OHIO STATE5 Nicole Ameli NOTRE DAME6 Katarzyna DÃ"…browa OHIO STATE7 Dina Bazarbayeva NORTHWESTERN8 Kendrick Mooney NORTHWESTERN9 Channing Foster NOTRE DAME10 Alexandra Dickinson CLEVELAND STATE11 Alyssa Rosenbaum LAWRENCE12 Rachel Davis WAYNE STATE13 Charlotte Reed WAYNE STATE14 Paige Zmudczynski DETROIT
Women's Sabre Results:1 Margarita Tschomakova OHIO STATE2 Lian Osier NOTRE DAME3 Allison Miller OHIO STATE4 Celina Merza OHIO STATE5 Chloe Grainger NORTHWESTERN6 Emily Cheng OHIO STATE7 Abigail Nichols NOTRE DAME8 Kathryn Palazzoto NOTRE DAME9 Kaja KÃ…'odowska WAYNE STATE10 Beatriz Almeida NOTRE DAME11 Katie Bryce WAYNE STATE12 Claire Carson NORTHWESTERN13 Katie Lang DETROIT14 Eva Berndt DETROIT15 Ariel Skellett DETROIT16 Madeline Cooper LAWRENCEDNF Annelise Eeman NORTHWESTERN
Women's Foil Results:1 Mona Shaito OHIO STATE2 Madison Zeiss NOTRE DAME3 Grace Hartman NOTRE DAME4 Mai Shaito OHIO STATE5 Allison Henvick OHIO STATE6 Adriana Camacho NOTRE DAME7 Radmila Sarkisova NOTRE DAME8 Dayana Sarkisova NORTHWESTERN9 Rachel Beck NOTRE DAME10 Nina Stackhouse OHIO STATE11 Olivia Dobbs WAYNE STATE12 Devynn Patterson NORTHWESTERN13 Camille Provençal-Dayle NORTHWESTERN14 Marie Deschuytter WAYNE STATE15 Tiaja Sabrie WAYNE STATE16 Rebecca Grohman NORTHWESTERN17 Stephanie Lee CLEVELAND STATE18 Sarah Armitage DETROIT19 Caitlee Hoglund LAWRENCE20 Shannon Canavan DETROIT
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