Nov. 3, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame fencing program will return to the strip for the first time since its 2017 NCAA Championship run on Sunday, joining the field at the Elite Invitational to face perennial top-ranked competition.
WHAT: Elite Invitational
WHERE: French Field House | Columbus, Ohio
WHEN: Nov. 5, 2017
WHO: Notre Dame vs. Cornell, Ohio State, Air Force, North Carolina, Princeton
TWITTER: @NDFencing
Elite Invitational Overview
For the fourth straight season, the Irish will compete at the Elite Invitational, this season held at French Field House at Ohio State. Competing exclusively on Sunday, the Irish men and women will each compete in dual matches against Cornell, Ohio State, Air Force, North Carolina and Princeton.
Schedule of Events
8:30 a.m. – ND vs. Cornell
9:45 a.m. – ND vs. Ohio State
11 a.m. – ND vs. Air Force
12:45 p.m. – ND vs. North Carolina
2 p.m. – ND vs. Princeton
Last Time Out
Sunday will mark the first team competition for the Irish since last March, when Notre Dame captured its ninth national title at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. It was a memorable spring for the Irish, who boasted two individual champions in Lee Kiefer (women’s foil) and Francesca Russo (women’s sabre), and seven additional All-Americans: Amanda Sirico (women’s epee), Sabrina Massialas (women’s foil), Kristjan Archer (men’s foil), Axel Kiefer (men’s foil), Ariel Simmons (men’s epee), Jonah Shainberg (men’s sabre), Jonathan Fitzgerald (men’s sabre). Notre Dame’s 186 team points were the most for the Irish in a championship win, and they bested the second-place team, Ohio State, by 25 points.
On The Return
Of Notre Dame’s 12 NCAA qualifiers last season, nine return to the Irish squad this season. Francesca Russo, Tara Hassett, Amanda Sirico, Sabrina Massialas, Jonathan Fitzgerald, Jonah Shainberg, Ariel Simmons, Dylan French, and Axel Kiefer all return to the strip for the 2017-18 season.
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.