Feb. 21, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 2008 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships will take place this Saturday (Feb. 23) and Sunday (Feb. 24) inside the Joyce Center Fieldhouse on the Notre Dame campus. Saturday will feature the individual competition, while Sunday is the team championship. Fencing will begin at 8:00 a.m. (ET) both days.
The Notre Dame women enter this year’s event as the No. 2 team in the latest United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) poll, while the Fighting Irish men are third. Ohio State, who will be competing at this weekend’s conference championship, is the top-ranked team on the women’s side and fellow league foe Northwestern is fourth. No. 2 Ohio State is the only other ranked team in the men’s field.
This marks the 10th year of the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships. At last year’s conference meet, Ohio State took the overall team title with 1,320 points. Notre Dame finished second with 1,245 points, while Northwestern was third (1,110). In the men’s competition, Ohio State topped the Irish, 675-620, while the Buckeye women totaled 645 points and Notre Dame tied Northwestern for second with 625 points apiece.
Notre Dame’s lone victory came in the women’s epee, while the Fighting Irish notched runner-up finishes in the men’s foil and men’s sabre. The Irish copped third-place in the men’s epee, women’s foil and women’s sabre.
Individually for Notre Dame, current senior Jakub Jedrkowiak and junior Adrienne Nott took first in men’s foil and women’s foil, respectively, while Kelley Hurley, a sophomore, placed first in the epee during her debut at the MFCs. Valerie Providenza, a 2007 Notre Dame graduate, was the runner-up in women’s sabre while three Irish fencers on the men’s side – Karol Kostka (epee) and Mark Kubik (foil), both current juniors, along with ’07 graduate Matt Stearns (sabre) – all reached the semifinal round.
Schools scheduled to compete in the 2008 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships: Bowling Green, Case Western Reserve, Chicago, Cleveland State, Detroit, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Lawrence, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oberlin, Ohio State, Purdue, Wayne State, Wisconsin and Xavier.
For results of the 2008 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships click here.
2008 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships Schedule
Saturday, February 23rd – Individual Championships
8:00 a.m. – Pools for Men’s Epee, Men’s Sabre, Women’s Foil
10:00 a.m. – Pools for Men’s Foil, Women’s Epee, Women’s Sabre
12:00 p.m. – Direct Elimination for Men’s Epee, Men’s Sabre, Women’s Foil
2:00 p.m. – Direct Elimination for Men’s Foil, Women’s Epee, Women’s Sabre
Sunday, February 24th – Team Championships
8:00 a.m. – Team tournaments for Men’s Epee, Men’s Sabre, Women’s Foil
12:00 p.m. – Team tournaments for Men’s Foil, Women’s Epee, Women’s Sabre
* – Seeding based on Saturday’s results