March 25, 2010
BOSTON, Mass. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencing team is in second place after day one of action at the 2010 NCAA Championships, which are being contested at the Gordon Track Center on the campus of Harvard University. Day one featured the first four rounds of women’s round robin play. Leading the way for the Irish was junior sabreist Sarah Borrmann (Beaverton, Ore.), who posted a 12-2 record to stand in third place after the first four rounds of fencing. Overall, the Irish have 57 points, trailing only St. John’s total of 58.
Borrmann and sabre teammate Eileen Hassett (Beaverton, Ore.) had a strong day for the Irish, as the former All-Americans combined to post a 22-6 record. In addition to Borrmann’s 12-2 record, Hassett turned in 10-4 mark to take sole possession of eighth place. Borrmann, who opened the day with ten straight wins, is tied with Dagmara Wozniak of St. John’s in wins but trails 33-28 in indicator margin. Duke’s Rebecca Ward is atop the women’s sabre pool with 13 wins.
Key sabre bouts for the Irish included Borrmann’s sweep of Caroline Vloka and Elena Helgiu of Harvard and a 5-2 win over Princeton’s Joanna Cichomski. Hassett earned split her bouts with both pairs of fencers from Princeton and Harvard. From Notre Dame’s perspective, the women’s sabre action could prove pivotal tomorrow as Borrmann and Hassett will each have to face two fencers from St. John’s, Penn State and Ohio State as well as Ward, who is the defending national champion.
In epee, Notre Dame’s duo of sisters Kelley and Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) also has strong opening acts at the 2010 championships, combining for a 21-7 record. K. Hurley went 11-3 with a touch indicator of +23 to place fourth, while C. Hurley went 10-4 with a touch indicator of +14, good for sixth place.
K. Hurley’s day was highlighted by a 5-4 win over Princeton’s Susannah Scanlan, while she also swept her bouts versus Christa and Kayley French of Northwestern and split her bouts versus St. John’s. C. Hurley swept her two bouts versus opposition from Princeton and also recorded a 5-3 win over K. Hurley to start her day. C. Hurley added a dramatic win over K. French, 5-4, in an overtime bout that included six double touches in the overtime period. But against C. French she lost in overtime, 4-3.
Leading the Irish in women’s foil was Hayley Reese (Crestwood, Ky.), who recorded a 10-4 mark to place fifth after a day of fencing. One of Reese’s biggest wins of the day was a 5-2 triumph over Doris Willette of Penn State. She also knocked off Princeton’s Brianna Martin, 5-4, in overtime. Ultimately, Reese recorded a win and a loss against her opposition from Harvard, Penn State and Northwestern and won both her bouts against Princeton.
Making her first ever appearance at the NCAA championships, sophomore Darsie Malynn (Grapevine, Texas) added four foil wins for the Irish. Though her record stands at 4-10, Malynn’s indicator is -15 and she was involved in five one-touch bouts. Arguably, her most important win for the Irish was a 5-1 defeat of Penn State’s Olga Ostantnigrosh.
Women’s fencing action concludes tomorrow, March 26 with rounds five, six and seven of round robin play. Following the completion of those rounds, the top-four finishers in each weapon will fence simultaneous semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine the champion, and the losers being awarded a tie for third place. An institution’s place in the championship will be based on points earned by each individual win.
The Irish are dueling it out with an unprecedented four other teams that qualified 12 fencers for the championships including Harvard, Penn State, Princeton and St. John’s as well as traditional rival Ohio State, who sent 11 fencers.
Check back with UND.com for a complete recap of the second day of the championships. Fans can also follow the Irish by accessing live results at http://www.prisedefer.com/NCAA or following live video streaming of tomorrow’s action through www.collegefencing360.com.
Team Standings (Day 1)1. St. John's University 582. Notre Dame 573. Pennsylvania State University 544. Princeton University 475. Harvard University 466. Ohio State University 407. Columbia/Barnard 378. Northwestern University 369. Temple University 2310. T Duke University 2010. T Pennsylvania, University of 2012. Stanford University 1313. T Cornell University 1113. T U.S. Air Force Academy 1115. T Wayne State University 915. T Yale University 917. U.C. San Diego 718. T Boston College 318. T Brown University 320. Cal Tech 0
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