March 27, 2010
BOSTON, Mass. – After three days of fencing at the 2010 NCAA Championships, the national title remains up for grabs as St. John’s, Penn State and Notre Dame are separated by just four points. Saturday saw the men take to the strips and St. John’s held onto its lead, finishing with 152 points. Penn State is in second with 150 points and Notre Dame is in third with 148, setting the stage for a dramatic final day of action from Harvard’s Gordon Track Center.
On Saturday, Notre Dame was led by the junior men’s sabre tandem of Avery Zuck (Beaverton, Ore.) and Barron Nydam (Rancho Sante Fe, Calif.), who combined for a team-best 22 wins on the day. Zuck, who is currently in third place, turned in 12 wins, just one off the day’s highest sabre total of 13 which was turned in by Daryl Homer of St. John’s and Daniel Bak of Penn State. Nydam earned 10 wins on the day and is in fifth place due to his +17 indicator. Nydam finished the day on an eight-bout winning streak.
Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.) and Enzo Castellani (Keller, Texas) also had a strong day for the Irish as the sophomore duo combined for 20 wins, the second highest foil total by teammates. Meinhardt notched 11 wins and is currently in third place and Castellani is in fifth by virtue of his nine wins and +20 indicator.
The Irish added 15 wins in men’s epee as freshman James Kaull (Washinton, D.C.) notched eight wins and junior Greg Schoolcraft (San Jose, Calif.) added seven wins. Kaull is currently in eighth with a +4 indicator and one of his biggest wins came in overtime when he downed Nicholas Vomero of St. John’s. Kaull earned the win by holding priority and not allowing Vomero to land a touch in the extra time. Schoolcraft currently sits in 14th. Making his second appearance in as many years at the championship event, Schoolcraft proved resilient by posting a 3-1 record in his bouts that ended in 5-4 scores.
Notre Dame will have plenty of chances to close the gap in search of the program’s eighth national title on Sunday. In epee, the Irish have bouts left against Ohio State, Sacred Heart, Air Force, UNC, Stanford and Brandeis. In foil, Notre Dame will face opposition from title contenders Penn State and St. John’s as well as UNC, Air Force, Yale and Brown. Then, in sabre, Zuck and Nydam will also have the opportunity to vault the Irish up the leader board as they face Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Vassar and then close out their day against St. John’s.
Head coach Janusz Bednarski, who is seeking his third national title with the Irish, is no stranger to comebacks to win the National title. In 2005, he led the Irish from a 24-point deficit to claim the championship.
Following the completion of the round robin rounds, the top-four finishers in each men’s 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.
Check back with UND.com for a complete recap of the final day of the 2010 NCAA 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 3)1. St. John's University 1522. Pennsylvania State University 1503. Notre Dame 1484. Harvard University 1135. Princeton University 1086. Ohio State University 1027. Columbia/Barnard 868. Pennsylvania 599. Northwestern University 5310. Stanford University 5211. Duke University 4912. U.S. Air Force Academy 4213. Temple University 3814. Yale University 3215. Wayne State University 2716. New York University 2017. Cornell University 1918. U.C. San Diego 1819. Boston College 1319. Brown University 1321. UNC 1222. Sacred Heart University 1123. Vassar College 624. Brandeis University 525. Haverford College 326. Cal Tech 127. Cleveland State 0
Notre Dame’s 2010 All-Americans (Team/Finish)
Epee:
Courtney Hurley (1st/t-3rd)
Kelley Hurley (2nd/6th)
Foil:
Hayley Reese (2nd/5th)
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Sarah Borrmann (2nd/5th)
Eileen Hassett (2nd/7th)
–ND–