Brent Kelly is one of 12 Irish fencers to qualify for the NCAA Championship and one of five who will be making their first appearance for Notre Dame.

Irish Qualify Maximum Allotment Of Fencers For 2011 NCAA Championships

March 16, 2011

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The top-ranked University of Notre Dame fencing team qualified the maximum 12 fencers for the upcoming NCAA Championship, it was announced by the NCAA National Men’s and Women’s Fencing Committee on Tuesday afternoon. Ohio State University will host the championships at the French Field House and St. John Arena, March 24-27, in Columbus, Ohio. The Irish enter in pursuit of the program’s eighth national title.

After posting a combined 58-1 record on the regular season, the Irish men and women captured the 2011 Midwest Fencing Conference (MFC) Championship for the second consecutive season. In the process, each weapon team brought home gold for the Irish, marking the first time in the MFC’s 13-year history that one school has won each of the six weapons.

This past weekend at the NCAA Midwest Regional, Irish women’s sabreist Eileen Hassett, women’s foilist Rachel Beck, men’s foilist Ariel DeSmet and men’s sabreist Avery Zuck won gold medals to automatically qualify for the 2011 NCAA Championships.

That quartet will be joined at the NCAA Championship by men’s epeeists James Kaull and Brent Kelly, men’s foilist Reggie Bentley, men’s sabreist Barron Nydam, women’s epeeists Courtney Hurley and Ewa Nelip, women’s foilist Hayley Reese and women’s sabreist Lian Osier.

Although without the services of last year’s men’s foil national champion Gerek Meinhardt, the Irish still bring plenty of overall experience to this year’s championship. The 12 Irish fencers traveling to Ohio State have combined for 16 NCAA Championship appearances. The 2011 contingent will be led by the two-time third-place women’s epee finisher, Hurley, and on the men’s side, Zuck will lead the charge after placing third at last year’s championship.

2011 marks the ninth time the Irish have qualified 12 fencers for NCAAs. Notre Dame also sent 12 fencers to the championship from 2000-03 as well as in 2006 and 2008-10. Only two other teams join Notre Dame in sending the full compliment of fencers to the NCAAs, as host Ohio State and Princeton qualified the full 12.

The Irish will be seeking their eighth NCAA Championship in program history, and their first since 2005. In 2008 and 2009, Notre Dame finished second to rival Ohio State, while last season the Irish placed third behind Penn State and St. John’s. Notre Dame has won the combined national championship in 1994, 2003 and 2005. The Irish claimed the men’s title in 1977, 1978 and 1986 and the women captured the crown in 1987.

The format for the NCAAs sees fencers compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin portion, the top four fencers fence semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the losers being awarded a tie for third place. Absolute ties for the seeding will be broken as follows: for positions one through three, by a coin toss; for position four, by a fence-off.

An institution’s place finish in the championships will be based on points earned by the individual. A team will be awarded one point for each victory by its student-athletes for the duration of the championship.

Be sure to check back with und.com for a complete Irish preview as the 2011 fencing championship approaches.

Notre Dame's 2011 NCAA Championship Participants
MEN'S EPEE:James Kaull (second appearance)Brent Kelly (first appearance)
MEN'S FOIL:Ariel DeSmet (first appearance)Reggie Bentley (first appearance)
MEN'S SABRE:Avery Zuck (third appearance)Barron Nydam (fourth appearance)
WOMEN'S EPEE:Courtney Hurley (third appearance)Ewa Nelip (third appearance)
WOMEN'S FOIL:Rachel Beck (first appearance)Hayley Reese (fourth appearance)
WOMEN'S SABRE:Eileen Hassett (fourth appearance)Lian Osier (first appearance)

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