March 7, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Notre Dame women’s fencing team made a strong case to qualify the maximum six fencers for the NCAA Championships with an impressive showing at the NCAA Regionals, hosted at Ohio State. Freshman Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) and sophomore Sarah Borrmann (Beaverton, Ore.) led the way with first-place finishes in epee and sabre respectively.
All told, the Irish combined for six medalists finishes on the day including a sweep in epee, a bronze medalist in foil and the gold and silver medals in sabre. Additionally, all 12 Irish entrants made their weapon’s final eight direct elimination table.
Women’s Epee
Less than a week removed from an epee team title at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, the Irish epeeists turned in another dominating performance as they fielded the top-three finishers. Joining Courtney Hurley in the top three were sophomore Ewa Nelip (Katowice, Poland), who took the silver, and junior Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), who finished in third. Freshman Diane Zielinski (Bernardsville, N.J.) finished in seventh to round out the Irish epee contingent.
Courtney Hurley’s run to the title began with a perfect 5-0 record in pool play. The top seed in the final eight, she strung together four wins to advance to a semifinal showdown with her sister and Irish teammate Kelley, the fourth seed. Courtney booked her place in the finals with a 15-9 win over her sister (Kelley went on to defeat Julia Tikonova in the bronze medal bout, 15-8). In the finals, Courtney met teammate Nelip, who had notched a 15-11 win over Ohio State’s Tikonova to reach the finals. Hurley won the title bout, 15-9, claiming her second title in the past week in the process, having won the individual epee crown at the MFC Championships last weekend. Courtney’s run to the title was so dominant that no non-Irish opponent landed more than seven touches against her all day, while teammates K. Hurley and Nelip could only muster nine.
Women’s Foil
Hayley Reese (Crestwood, Ky.) was Notre Dame’s top foil finisher on the day as she placed third to take home the bronze. She finished with a 5-0 mark in pool play. In the final eight, the fifth-seeded Reese posted a 15-8 win over Irish teammate Radmilla Sarkisova (Grand Rapids, Mich.) to advance to the semifinals. But in the semifinals she fell to eventual champion Oksana Dmytruk of Ohio State, 15-9. Reese rebounded in the In the bronze medal bout to record a win over Ohio State’s Lindsay Knauer, 15-8, to ensure that the Irish had at least one medalist in each weapon. It also marked the second consecutive year in which Reese has taken home the bronze from NCAA Regionals.
Adrienne Nott (Pittsford, N.Y.), Sarkisova and Malynn went on to finish in fifth, sixth and seventh place respectively. Nott recorded consecutive wins over Malynn (15-3) and Sarkisova (15-7) in the repechage to finish in fifth.
Women’s Sabre
Notre Dame’s strong day continued with gold and silver medal finishes in sabre. Borrmann edged teammate Eileen Hassett (Beaverton, Ore.) in the championship bout, 15-13. Borrmann entered the final eight as the second seed. She proceeded to defeat Northwestern’s Whitney White, 15-4, and teammate Beatriz Almeida (Chappagua, N.Y.), 15-9, to advance to the finals. Almeida was then defeated by Margarita Tschomakova of Ohio State in the bronze medal bout, 15-6, to finish in fourth.
Senior captain Ashley Serrette (Orange, N.J.) joined Borrmann, Hassett and Almeida in the final eight. She downed Northwestern’s White, 15-13, to finish in seventh.
The men take part in NCAA Regional action tomorrow, March 8 as they attempt to qualify the maximum of six fencers for the NCAA Championships, which will be held in State College, Pa. on March 22-25. On Tuesday, March 10, the Irish will learn exactly who has been selected to participate in the NCAA Championship event.
Women's EpeePlace Fencer School1 Courtney Hurley Notre Dame2 Ewa Nelip Notre Dame3 Kelley Hurley Notre Dame4 Julia Tikhonova Ohio State5 Christa French Northwestern6 Kayley French Northwestern7 Diane Zielinski Notre Dame8 Miriam Baranov Ohio State9 Mary Pozydaev Ohio State10 Jo. Niklinska Northwestern11 Brooke Snyder Cleveland State12 Emanuela Bercea Wayne State13 Desirée Kelly Wayne State14 Chiara Terzuolo Lawrence15 Megan Ross Northwestern16 Elyse Gurnowski Ohio State17 Charlotte Reed Wayne State18 Court. Zemkosky Cleveland State19 Hannah Borland Detroit20 Brittany Cook Detroit
Women's FoilPlace Fencer School1 Oksana Dmytruk Ohio State2 Sam Nemecek Northwestern3 Hayley Reese Notre Dame4 Lindsay Knauer Ohio State5 Adrienne Nott Notre Dame6 Radm. Sarkisova Notre Dame7 Darsie Malynn Notre Dame8 Mer. Baskies Northwestern9 Dev. Patterson Northwestern10 Holly McKibben Ohio State11 Provençal-Dayle Northwestern12 Allison Henvick Ohio State13 Dorothea Schurr Lawrence14 Melanie Kathan Lawrence15 Stephanie Lee Cleveland State16 Ashley Colbert Detroit17 S. Strassburg Wayne State17 R. Broderick Wayne State
Women's SabrePlace Fencer School1 Sarah Borrmann Notre Dame2 Eileen Hassett Notre Dame3 M. Tschomakova Ohio State4 Beatriz Almeida Notre Dame5 Falencia Miller Ohio State6 Emily Cheng Ohio State7 Ashley Serrette Notre Dame8 Whitney White Northwestern9 Adrienne Shon Northwestern10 Jillian Maher Northwestern11 Ashley McLemore Detroit12 Allison Keller Northwestern13 Anna Kotov Wayne State14 Allison Diven Detroit
— ND —