Notre Dame Women's Fencers Set To Open Season At Northwestern Invitational

Jan. 8, 2002

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s fencing team opens the promising 2002 season this weekend at the Northwestern Invitational, facing four teams on Saturday, Jan. 12, in dual-meet competition before returning to action at the New York University Duals (where they will be joined by the Irish men’s team).

A large contingent of Irish fencers also will compete in the Jan. 18-21 North American Cup event, to be held just minutes from the Notre Dame campus in downtown South Bend.

Members of both Notre Dame teams have compiled impressive results during the past three months (see complete results at end of release), with the Irish men expected to return to the No. 1 ranking in next week’s first coaches poll while the women likely will hold a spot among the top three teams in the first poll of the 2002 season (they ended 2001 ranked fifth).

The Irish women will count on their tremendous depth this weekend, as the team’s top foil competitors-freshmen Andrea Ament and Alicja Kryczalo-will be competing in Budapest, Hungary, at a World Cup event (Jan. 11-12). Two fencers who competed in the 2001 NCAA foil competition-junior Liza Boutsikaris (Sparta, N.J.) and sophomore Maggie Jordan (Maplewood, N.J.)-will lead the Notre Dame foil contingent this weekend (Jordan has shifted back to her traditional sabre for rest of the 2001-02 season). Notre Dame will open Saturday’s competition versus John’s Hopkins (9:30 p.m.), followed by matchups versus Fairleigh Dickinson (11:00), Temple (12:30) and North Carolina (3:00).

Temple should pose the biggest challenge, as the Owls return four of their five fencers that totaled the eighth-most points among women’s teams at the 2001 NCAAs-led by All-America sabre Sakinah Shaahid (4th at the 2001 NCAAs). Temple’s other returners from the 2001 NCAAs include foilist Gina Deleso and epeeists Julia Korony and Sara Forsythe.

Each of Notre Dame’s other three opponents also return fencers from the 2001 NCAAs, including Johns Hopkins All-American sabre Sarah Walsh, UNC epeeist Beth Athanas and Fairleigh Dickinson sabre Cathleen Ferris.

The ND epee squad will be led by the junior tandem of captain Anna Carnick (Mishawaka, Ind.) and Meagan Call (Eugene, Ore.)-both two-time All-Americans-and highly-touted sophomore Kerry Walton (Londonderry, N.H.), who did not fence with the Irish during the 2001 season. Other women’s epee competitors will include sophomore Erin Riley and seniors Susan Clark and Kirsten Housing.

Senior Michelle Sutton and junior Kathryn Schuster will join Boutsikaris and Jordan as ND’s foil competitors while fifth-year captain Carianne McCullough (Philadelphia, Pa.) teams with sophomores Destanie Milo (Knox, Ind.) and Jessie Filkins as the top Irish sabre entrants, with sophomores Danielle Davis and Mary-Hope Feher and junior Melissa Trevino rounding out Notre Dame’s full 16-fencer contingent.

Carnick carries a 94-28 career regular-season record (53-18 in 2001) while Call holds a similar 93-23 record (56-13 in ’01). Boutsikaris-who earned All-America honors as a freshman with her 12th-place finish at the 2000 NCAAs-owns a 90-15 career record (54-7 in ’01) while Jordan won 45 of her 62 foil bouts in 2001. McCullough-a two-time NCAA participant-holds a 75-20 career record (34-8 in ’01) and Milo won 41 of 52 bouts before competing in the 2001 NCAAs while Filkins posted a 28-9 record last season.

The Northwestern Invitational also will include a nine-team men’s competition (Notre Dame is not participating), with the more noteworthy entrants including Wayne State, North Carolina, Detroit, John’s Hopkins, Lawrence and Cleveland State.

Check back to und.com for results from Northwestern and Budapest, plus a complete season preview and updated fencer biographies.

Here’s a complete schedule for the Northwestern Invitational:

Friday, Jan. 11 (men’s events)
2:00 p.m. – UNC-MICH, JHU-DET, WSU-LAW, NU-CSU
3:30 p.m. – UNC-DET, NU-LAW, MICH-CSU, JHU-WSU
5:00 p.m. – UNC-NU, CSU-DET, LAW-MSU, JHU-MICH
6:30 p.m. – UNC-MSU, NU-JHU, LAW-DET, CSU-WSU

Saturday, Jan. 12
8:00 a.m. (women) – UNC-CSU, TEMP-WSU, JHU-DET, FDU-MICH, OSU-LAW
9:30 a.m. (women) – UNC-WSU, TEMP-OSU, JHU-MICH, FDU-MSU, LAW-CSU
11:00 a.m. (women) – NU-WAL, TEMP-DET, JHU-WSU, FDU-OSU, UNC-MICH, CSU-MSU
12:30 a.m. (women) – NU-JHU, TEMP-LAW, UNC-OSU, FDU-DET
12:30 a.m. (men) – UNC-LAW, JHU-CSU
2:00 p.m. (women) – NU-TEMP, UNC-LAW, JHU-OSU, FDU-CSU
2:00 p.m. (men) – UNC-CSU, LAW-JHU
3:30 p.m. (women) – TEMP-CSU, UNC-FED, JHU-LAW
3:30 p.m. (men) – UNC-JHU, LAW-MICH, CSU-MSU
5:00 p.m. (men) – UNC-WSU, LAW-CSU, MSU-JHU

Sunday, Jan. 13 (women events)
8:00 a.m. – UNC-DET, LAW-MSU, TEMP-JHU, FDU-WSU, CSU-MICH
9:30 a.m. – UNC-MSU, ND-JHU, TEMP-FDU, CSU-WSU, LAW-DET
11:00 a.m. – NU-CSU, JHU-MSU, TEMP-UNC, FDU-ND, LAW-MICH
12:30 a.m. – NU-FDU, UNC-JHU, TEMP-ND, LAW-WSU, CSU-DET
2:00 p.m. – NU-UNC, JHU-CSU, FDU-LAW
3:30 p.m. – ND-UNC, FHU-FDU

NOTRE DAME FENCERS POST IMPRESSIVE RESULTS LEADING UP TO 2002 SEASON

Members of the Notre Dame fencing program continued to post impressive results in high-level competitions during the past few weeks, including World Cup events in Europe and the Dec. 7-9 North American Cup (NAC) event in Palm Springs, Calif. (which included an elite group of fencers from throughout the world).

The strong showings of Notre Dame’s fencers-particularly the squad’s newcomers-during the past few months has reaffirmed the team’s status as a frontrunner to capture the 2002 NCAA championship (after five consecutive runner-up finishes and a third-place showing in 2001).

Notre Dame returns eight All-Americans and three other fencers with NCAA Championship experience while the addition of five newcomers has enhanced hopes for the program’s sixth NCAA title and first since 1994. Eight current Notre Dame fencers are ranked among the top 35 of the U.S. open/senior rankings, including five in the top 20 and three in the top 10 (plus surging Croatian native Ozren Debic and a pair of promising freshmen from Poland).

Notre Dame’s promise for the future includes three first-year fencers who are ranked among the top three in the current U.S. junior rankings. Sophomore Kerry Walton (Londonderry, N.H.), who did not fence with the Irish during the 2001 season, has climbed to No. 2 in the U.S. junior women’s epee rankings (and No. 5 in the senior/open rankings), after winning the junior epee title at the North American Cup in Dallas (Nov. 9-11) before placing seventh in the open division at the NAC in Palm Springs.

Irish freshman Andrea Ament (Gates Mill, Ohio) has ascended to the top spot in the U.S. junior women’s foil rankings, also ranking 13th in the world junior rankings, fourth in the U.S. open foil rankings and 150th worldwide among all women’s foilists. Ament recently placed third at the Dec. 1 World Cup junior competition in Jesi, Italy, before her impressive sixth-place finish at the Palm Springs NAC.

Notre Dame’s third high-ranked newcomer is freshman Derek Snyder (Chatsworth, Calif.), who has maintained his No. 3 spot in the U.S. junior men’s foil rankings (he’s also No. 17 in the world junior foil rankings and 17th in the overall U.S. foil rankings). Snyder spent the Thanksgiving break in Europe, placing third at a junior World Cup event in London and seventh in Madrid, before his 10th-place finish at the NAC in Palm Springs.

Two other freshmen appear poised to make a strong impact on Notre Dame’s 2002 season, as Poland national-team members Michal Sobieraj (Krakow) and Alicja Kryczalo (Gdansk) have compiled a series of strong results since joining the Irish program.

Sobieraj won the men’s epee title in a 100-fencer field at the Northwestern Remenyik Open (Oct. 27-28) and finished second to teammate Jan Viviani (Haworth, N.J.) at the prestigious Penn State Open before his 11th-place finish at the Palm Springs NAC (he has not fenced in enough competitions to crack the current world rankings).

Kryczalo-who ranked fourth in the world junior rankings last summer, before moving up to the senior level-beat her teammate Ament for an impressive first-place finish in the women’s foil competition at the Penn State Open and added a third-place finish at the NAC in Palm Springs (she already ranks 54th in the world rankings, despite competing in just a handful of events).

NORTH AMERICAN CUP NOTES

• In addition to the above fencers, Notre Dame’s eight other participants at the North American Cup included strong showings by junior men’s foil captain Ozren Debic (11th), junior men’s epee captain Viviani (12th), junior men’s sabre Matt Fabricant (16th) and fifth-year women’s sabre captain Carianne McCullough (17th). Other competitors included sophomore women’s sabre Destanie Milo (19th), senior men’s sabre captain Andre Crompton (23rd), junior women’s epee captain Anna Carnick (23rd) and fifth-year men’s sabre Andrzej Bednarski (59th, limited by illness).
• Kryczalo finished tied for third with Anna Anguelova (ranked 138rd in the world) in the 64-fencer women’s foil field, behind Stanford’s Iris Zimmerman (the 2001 NCAA champ, currently ranked 3rd in the U.S. and 129th in the world) and Emily Cross (2nd in U.S. rankings), followed by Susan Jennings (the 6th-place finisher at the 2000 NCAAs, currently 16th in U.S. rankings) and Ament.
• Walton was one of two fencers with ND connections to finish near the top of the 91-fencer women’s epee field, as former four-time ND All-American Magda Krol (’00) placed third, behind Daisy Gilker (7th in U.S. rankings) and Elaine Cheris (21st in U.S.) … the others who finished ahead of Walton included Kristin Suchorski (4th in U.S. rankings, 86th in world), top-ranked U.S. foilist Julia Leszko (89th in world) and Jasmine McGlade (12th in U.S.) … Krol (who fences for her native Canada) currently checks in at 55th in the world rankings.
• Snyder and Debic (Zagreb, Croatia) were part of a talented 132-fencer men’s foil field that included the following top finishers: Canada’s Josh McGuire (87th in world), Dan Kellner (2nd in U.S.), Luxembourg’s Cedric Anen (55th in world), top-ranked U.S. foilist Jed Dupree of Columbia Univ. (also 153rd in the world and 2001 NCAA champ), Stanford’s Alex Wood (4th in U.S., 5th at 2001 NCAAs), Jeremy Sinkin (11th in U.S.), Chris Miller (14th in U.S.), Sean McClain (5th in U.S.) and Greg Chang (7th in U.S.).
• Sobieraj and Viviani (Haworth, N.J.) battled through a challenging 172-fencer men’s epee field, with the top 10 including: Cody Mattern (7th in U.S.), Canada’s Yann Bernard, St. John’s Doron Levitt (3rd at 2000 NCAAs, 11th in ’01), Canada’s Charles St.-Hilare (112th in world), Keith Lichten (8th in U.S.), Benjamin Solomon (28th in U.S.), Justin Tausig (3rd in U.S.), Jeff Snider (12th in U.S.), top-ranked U.S. epeeist Eric Hansen (16th in world) and Nicolae Papuc.

U.S. AND WORLD RANKING NOTES

• Ament (4th) trails only Erinn Smart, Emily Cross and Iris Zimmerman in the U.S. open/senior women’s foil rankings.
• Walton (5th) stands behind only Julia Leszko, Elizabeth Spilman, Kamara Jones and Kristin Suchorski in the U.S. open/senior women’s epee rankings.
• Viviani holds down the No. 10 spot in the U.S. epee rankings while Debic checked in at 147th in the world foil rankings.
• Crompton (Irvington, N.J.) has remained 14th in the U.S. men’s sabre rankings (he is 240th in the world).
• Fabricant (Elizabeth, N.J.) has surged to 22nd in the U.S. men’s sabre rankings and posted ND’s best men’s sabre finish at the Penn State Open (2nd) and the Palm Springs NAC (16th).
• McCullough (Philadelphia, Pa.)-a former walk-on who also recently won the Penn State Open-has climbed to 33rd in the U.S. women’s sabre rankings while Milo (Knox, Ind.) has moved up to 23rd.

NOTRE DAME FENCER RESULTS (Oct.-Dec., 2001)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Nimes, France)

NORTHWESTERN REMENYIK OPEN (Oct. 27-28)

PENN STATE GARRET OPEN (Nov. 10-11)

NORTH AMERICAN JUNIOR CUP (Dallas Texas: Nov. 10-11)

WORLD CUP JUNIOR EVENT (London)

WORLD CUP JUNIOR EVENT (Madrid)

WORLD CUP JUNIOR EVENT (Jesi, Italy)

NORTH AMERICAN SENIOR CUP (Palm Springs)

MEN’S EPEE

Brian Casas

Adam Harvey
Northwestern Open (field of 100)

Michael Macauley

Michal Sobieraj

Jan Viviani

WOMEN’S EPEE

Meagan Call

Anna Carnick

Susan Clark

Kirsten Housing

Erin Riley

Kerry Walton

MEN’S FOIL

Jeremy Beau

Matt Castellan

Ozren Debic

Steve Mautone

Derek Snyder

WOMEN’S FOIL

Andrea Ament

Liza Boutsikaris

Alicja Kryczalo

Kathryn Schuster

Michelle Sutton

MEN’S SABRE

Andrzej Bednarski

Brian Borchard

Andre Crompton

Brian Dosal

Matt Fabricant

Neal Salisian

WOMEN’S SABRE

Danielle Davis

Jessie Filkins

Maggie Jordan

Carianne McCullough

Destanie Milo

Melissa Trevino