March 21, 2007

The upcoming four-day NCAA Combined Fencing Championships (March 22-25, at Drew University in Madison, N.J.) – which will feature unprecedented and exclusive hour-by-hour coverage from und.com – are taking shape to be the deepest competition for the team title since the six-weapon format made its debut in 2000, as Harvard recently was granted an 11th fencer. Penn State, Columbia and St. John’s each will send the maximum 12 fencers (six men, six women) into the 2007 NCAA competition while Notre Dame, Ohio State and Harvard each will contend for a top finish with 11 fencers in the field – with the entrants from those six schools representing nearly half of the entire field (69 of 144).

(Note: action photos of the 11 ND fencers will be added to tis preview, time permitting.)

Some quick preview notes on the 2007 NCAAs follow below, as do more detailed notes. Note that three will be three ways to track the action (each provided by the Notre Dame sports information office): free text messages, the ND Sports Hotline hotline and live-stat PDF update pages (look for a separate release on und.com with links to all three options). Also note that daily previews will be posted on und.com, with an in-depth look at that day’s matchups for the Irish.

2007 NCAAs Quick Notes:

• For the first time in the six-weapon format (which dates back to 2000), there will be a total of six teams doing battle with 11 or the maximum 12 fencers.

• Notre Dame will be attempting to become the only team with three titles in the current decade, which already has featured five different champions in the past six years (Penn State, St. John’s, ND in ’03 and ’05, Ohio State and Harvard) … Columbia could become the sixth different team champion in the decade

• For the first time in recent memory, the field is missing all six of the individual champions from the previous year’s NCAA competition.

• Notre Dame and Harvard’s chances to win with 11 fencers would be boosted greatly if not for the absence of three former NCAA champions – ND sabreist Mariel Zagunis, Harvard foilist Emily Cross and Harvard epeeist Benji Ungar – who all maintain college eligibility but are not competing at the 2007 NCAAs due to their respective focus on international competition and qualifying for the 2008 Olympic games.

• Notre Dame senior sabreist Valerie Providenza (’04) is one of three former NCAA champions who are in the 2007 field (all in the women’s events), along with Columbia sabreist Emily Jacobson (’05) and Wayne State epeeist Anna Garina (’04, ’05).

• Three members of Notre Dame’s 2007 NCAA fencing contingent – Providenza, fellow sabreist Patrick Ghattas and foilist Jakub Jedrkowiak -were members of the 2005 NCAA title team.

• In addition to the former NCAA champions mentioned above, the 2007 NCAA field includes several former NCAA runner-up fencers: Ghattas (’05, ’06), Garina (’06), Jacobson (’06), OSU foilist Andras Horanyi (’06), Wayne State epeeist Marek Petraszek (’05), SJU epeeist Benjamin Bratton (’04) and PSU sabreist Sophia Hiss (’04).

STACKING UP THE SIX CONTENDERS – Here’s a look at some of the key factors that could go into the six-team battle at the 2007 NCAAs:

Entrants History – The 2007 NCAAs will mark the first time that six teams have sent 11 or 12 fencers on to the NCAAs (12 for PSU, Columbia and SJU; 11 for ND, OSU and Harvard) … the NCAA field first expanded to six weapons, with the addition of women’s sabre, in 2000 … that 2000 NCAA field included five teams with 11-12 entrants (12 for ND, PSU, Princeton and Stanford; 11 for SJU) and the ’06 NCAAs also featured five teams with 11 or 12 fencers in the event (12 for ND, PSU and Harvard; 11 for SJU and Columbia) … the only previous seasons with more than two teams in the NCAAs that had 12 entrants were the four in 2000 and the three in ’06 … the Irish had 12 entrants every year from 2000-03, followed by 11 in ’04 and ’05 and then 12 in ’06 … Ohio State qualified two fencers for the 2007 NCAAs in every weapon but women’s foil while Harvard is sending only one men’s epeeist and one women’s sabreist (ND has just one women’s epeeist in the field).

Double-Digit Entries Since 2000
2000 – 12 for ND, PSU, Princeton and Stanford; 11 for SJU; 10 for Columbia and Yale
2001 – 12 for ND and SJU; 11 for Stanford and PSU; 10 for Princeton
2002 – 12 for ND and PSU; 11 for SJU; 10 for OSU
2003 – 12 for ND and OSU; 11 for PSU and Columbia; 10 for SJU
2004 – 12 for PSU and OSU; 11 for ND and Columbia; 10 for SJU
2005 – 12 for SJU; 11 for ND, OSU and PSU
2006 – 12 for ND, PSU and Harvard; 11 for SJU and Columbia (also 9 for OSU)

Doing More With Less – Notre Dame in 2005 became the first team ever to win the NCAA combined team title without the full allotment of entries (including years prior to 2000), as the Irish won with their 11 fencers while overcoming the 12 fencers from St. John’s … the six-weapon era has seen several teams with fewer than 12 entrants finish above teams with 12, including one year (in ’06) when a team completed the task that faces Notre Dame this weekend (finishing ahead of three different teams that have more fencers):

2006 – Ohio State had just 9 fencers but finished ahead of ND (12), SJU (11) and Columbia (11)
2005 – ND won the NCAA title with 11 fencers, finishing ahead of SJU’s 12-fencer squad (runner-up OSU also had just 11 entrants)
2003 – Penn State finished as the runner-up with 11 fencers, besting the 12 from OSU
2002 – SJU was the runner-up with 11 entrants, finishing ahead of ND’s 12-fencer group
2001 – PSU claimed a 2nd-place finish with 11 fencers, ahead of a 12-fencer contingent from ND
2000 – The 11 fencers from SJU rallied to tie for 2nd, passing Stanford and Princeton teams that both featured 12 entrants

Gender Balance – The 2007 NCAAs will open with two days of men’s bouting, as five teams (ND, PSU, Columbia, SJU and OSU) will feature the full allotment of six men’s fencers while Harvard and Penn each will have five fencers in the men’s field … the women’s competition then will feature six fencers from four teams (PSU, Columbia, SJU and Harvard), plus five each from ND, OSU and Northwestern.

NCAA Experience – Penn State and Columbia have the edge in this area, with each featuring eight fencers who have fenced previously in the NCAAs … PSU’s eight NCAA veterans have combined for 16 appearances in the NCAAs while Columbia’s eight have combined for 12 previous NCAA trips … Harvard (12 trips), Notre Dame (11) and St. John’s (11) each have six fencers in the field who have NCAA experience while Ohio State is sending just five NCAA veterans who have only six NCAA trips between them.

All-Americans – All eight of the NCAA veterans for Penn State (13 total) and Columbia (12) have posted All-America finishes (top-12) at previous NCAA Championships … six of the SJU entrants (8 total) are former All-Americans, as are five of the Harvard fencers (6), four from ND (but a total of 9 times) and three four OSU (4 total).

Three-Time All-Americans – The 2007 NCAAs will feature six fencers (four in sabre, two in epee) who are rare three-time All-Americans, including ND sabreists Patrick Ghattas and Valerie Providenza (only two other contending teams have a three-time All-American) … others who have been three-time All-Americans include Penn State sabreist Sophie Hiss, SJU epeeist Benjamin Bratton, Wayne State epeeist Anna Garina and Rutgers sabreist Ben Igoe.

NCAA Semifinalists – Ten fencers from the six contending teams (including two each from ND, OSU, PSU and Columbia) have past experience reaching the NCAA medal/semifinal round in the individual bouting, with those top fencers including four in women’s sabre and three in men’s sabre (plus two men’s foilists and a men’s epeeist) … ND sabreists Valerie Providenza won the 2004 NCAA title and placed 4th in ’05 while her teammate Patrick Ghattas was the ’05 and ’06 runner-up in men’s sabre … PSU also has a pair of elite sabre performers, as Franz Boghicev placed 4th at the 2005 NCAAs (as did his teammate Caity Thompson in the ’06 women’s sabre competition) … Columbia Emily Jacobson was the 2005 NCAA women’s sabre champion and ’06 runner-up while the Lions’ Scott Sugimoto placed 3rd in the 2006 men’s foil standings … OSU’s Andras Horanyi was the 2006 NCAA men’s foil runner-up while his teammate Siobhan Byrne placed 3rd in the 2005 women’s sabre bouting … Harvard sabreist Tim Hagamen is a two-time NCAA semifinalist (3rd in ’05, 4th in ’06) while SJU’s Benjamin Bratton was the 2004 NCAA men’s epee runner-up.

Recent Team Finishes – Penn State has averaged a 2nd-place NCAA finish in the current decade while Notre Dame has an average placement of 2.5 (between 2nd and 3rd) over the past seven years, St. John’s has an average finish of 3rd, and Ohio State and Columbia both an avg. 5th-place finish in the decade … Harvard’s average finish since 2000 is 12th (ranging from 22nd to 1st) … PSU has either won the NCAA title (2000, ’02) or been the runner-up (’01, ’03, ’04, ’06) in six of the past seven years (plus 4th in ’05) … ND won the title in ’03 and ’05, was the 2000 runner-up and placed 3rd three other times this decade (’01, ’02, ’04; plus 4th in ’06) … SJU was the 2001 champ and ’02 runner-up, plus 3rd in 2000, ’03 and ’05 (4th in ’04, 6th in ’06) … OSU’s progression in the decade includes going from 12th in 2000 to 8th in ’01, then 4th in both ’02 and ’03 before winning the 2004 title and being the ’05 runner-up (followed by 3rd in ’06) … Columbia has finished either 6th (2000, ’01) or 5th (2002-06) at every NCAA Championship held in the current decade … Harvard was 21st, 19th and 22nd at the start of the decade (2000-02) before placing 8th in both ’03 and ’04 and 6th in ’05, followed by the 2006 NCAA title … here’s a look at the finishes from each contender during the decade:

Team – NCAA finish (2000-01-02-03-04-05-06)
Penn State – 1-2-1-2-2-4-2
Notre Dame – 2-3-3-1-3-1-4
St. John’s – 2-3-3-1-3-1-4
Ohio State – 12-8-4-4-1-2-3
Columbia – 6-6-5-5-5-5-5
Harvard – 21-19-22-8-8-6-1

2006 Final Standings: 1. Harvard 165; 2. Penn State 159; 3. Ohio State 155; 4. Notre Dame 152; Columbia 148; 6. St. John’s 139
2005 Final Standings: 1. Notre Dame 173; 2. Ohio State 171; 3. St. John’s 162; 4. Penn State 145; 5. Columbia 137; 6. Harvard 134
2004 Final Standings: 1. Ohio State 194; 2. Penn State 160; 3. Notre Dame 153; 4. St. John’s 149; 5. Columbia 146; 6. Penn 104; 7. Princeton 79; 8. Harvard 73
2003 Final Standings: 1. Notre Dame 182; 2. Penn State 179; 3. St. John’s 171; 4. Ohio State 167; 5. Columbia 113; 6. Princeton 107 … 8. Harvard 68
2002 Final Standings: 1. Penn State 195; 2. St. John’s 190; 3. Notre Dame 186; 4. Ohio State 140; 5. Columbia 96 … 22. Harvard 14
2001 Final Standings: 1. St. John’s 180; 2. Penn State 172; 3. Notre Dame 153; 4. Stanford 139; 5. Princeton 112; 6. Columbia 108; 7. Penn 85; 8. Ohio State 82 … 19. Harvard 28
2000 Final Standings: 1. Penn State 175; 2. Notre Dame 171; 2. St. John’s 171; 4. Stanford; 5. Princeton; 6. Columbia … 12. Ohio State … 21. Harvard

Regional Champions – The top contenders at the 2007 NCAAs include 15 fencers who recently won their respective NCAA Regional titles, led by four each from Penn State and St. John’s and three from Ohio State (plus two from both ND and Columbia) … the PSU fencers who won individual titles at the Mideast/South Regional include sabreist Caity Thompson, foilists Nicholas Chinman and Doris Willette, and epeeist James Moody … SJU’s four champions at the Northeast Regional were epeeists Stan Vaksman and Reka Szele, foilist Tanya Novakovska and women’s sabreist Dagmara Wozniak while two from Columbia – foilist Scott Sugimoto and sabreist Alexander Krul – also won Northwest Regional titles … the Midwest Regional yielded three champions from Ohio State (sabreists Mike Momtselidze and Siobhan Byrne and foilist Andras Horanyi) and two from Notre Dame (epeeist Kelley Hurley and foilist Adi Nott).

Newcomer X Factor – The tightly-bunched team competition at the 2007 NCAAs ultimately may come down to how each team’s newcomers adapt to the new experience of fencing under the pressure of 23 round-robin bouts (spread out over two days) … Penn State’s four newcomers to the NCAAs include three who were up to the challenge at the Mideast/South NCAA Regional, as foilists Nicholas Chinman and Doris Willette combined with epeeist Anastasia Ferdman to win regional titles (PSU’s other NCAA newcomer is epeeist Steffan Launer, the regional runner-up) … Columbia’s four NCAA rookies did not fare as well at the Northeast Regional, as epeeist Max Czapanskiy was 4th, foilist Kurt Getz and epeeist Tess Finkel both 5th and sabreist Daria Schneider 6th … the most noteworthy of ND’s five NCAA newcomers is epeeist Kelley Hurley, an Olympic hopeful and the 2007 Midwest Regional champion … three other ND fencers making their first NCAA trip – epeeist Greg Howard, sabreist Bill Thanhouser and foilist Emilie Prot – still have experience at the event, as 2006 NCAA alternates … Harvard’s five newcomers to the NCAAs included a pair of IFA east-coast champions, in men’s epeeist Teddy Sherrill and women’s foilist Misha Goldfeder … St. John’s has several noteworthy fencers among its six NCAA newcomers, including Northeast Regional champions Stan Vaksman (men’s epee), Dagmara Wozniak (women’s sabre) and Tanya Novakovska (women’s foil), plus women’s epeeist Tanya Novakovska (the regional runner-up) … OSU’s six NCAA newcomers include one (Midwest Regional sabre champ Mike Momtselidze) who qualified for the 2006 NCAAs but was unable to fence due to injury, plus the regional women’s epee champion Alexandra Obrazcova.

FINAL USFCA POLL – The final USFCA poll was released March 19, with the Notre Dame men’s squad remaining at number-6 and the women’s team sharing the 5th spot with Harvard … the Penn State men’s and women’s squads each hold down the top position in their respective polls while Columbia checks in at 2nd in both … the other team sending all 12 fencers – St. John’s – now is 3rd in both polls while Ohio State (#4 in both) and Harvard (#5 in both) round out the list of contenders for the team title … here are the complete updated polls, with the previous ranking in parentheses:

MEN
1. Penn State (1)
2. Columbia (3)
3. St. John’s (5)
4. Ohio State (3)
5. Harvard (4)
6. Notre Dame (6)
7. Pennsylvania (7)
8. Princeton (8)
9. Rutgers (NR)
10. Duke (10)
Others receiving votes – Stanford, Brandeis, UC-San Diego, North Carolina, Yale, NYU, Air Force, Brown, Cleveland State.

WOMEN
1. Penn State (1)
2. Columbia-Barnard (2)
3. St. John’s (6)
4. Ohio State (5)
5. Notre Dame (4)
(tie) Harvard (3)
7. Northwestern (6)
8. Pennsylvania (8)
9. Temple (9)
10. Princeton (10)
Others receiving votes – North Carolina, Cornell, UC-San Diego, Yale, Stanford, Duke, Brown, Wayne State, Air Force.

NOTRE DAME TEAM CAPSULE
Current National Rankings and 2006-07 Regular-Season Records – Men #6 (21-5) … Women #5 (24-4)

2007 NCAA Participants (11)
Men’s Foil – Jakub Jedrkowiak (Jr.; Leszno, Poland); Mark Kubik (So.; San Antonio, TX)
Men’s Epee – Karol Kostka (So.; Krakow, Poland); Greg Howard (Jr.; Granger, IN)
Men’s Sabre – Patrick Ghattas (Sr.; Beaverton, OR); Bill Thanhouser (So.; Portland, OR)
Women ‘s Foil – Adi Nott (So.; Pittsford, NY); Emilie Prot (So.; Limoges, France)
Women’s Epee – Kelley Hurley (Fr.; San Antonio, TX)
Women’s Sabre – Valerie Providenza (Sr.; Beaverton, OR); Ashley Serrette (So.; Orange, NJ)

All-America Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (4 individials/9 honors) – Providenza (1st in ’04, 4th in ’05, 9th in ’06) … Ghattas (10th in ’04, 2nd in ’05, 2nd in ’06) … Jedrkowiak (7th in ’05, 8th in ’06) … Nott (6th in ’06)

NCAA Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (6 individials/11 appearances) – Providenza (1st in ’04, 4th in ’05, 9th in ’06) … Ghattas (10th in ’04, 2nd in ’05, 2nd in ’06) … Jedrkowiak (7th in ’05, 8th in ’06) … Nott (6th in ’06) … Kostka (18th in ’06) … Kubik (21st in ’06)

Former NCAA Semifinalists at 2007 NCAAs (2 individials/4 honors) – Providenza (1st in ’04, 4th in ’05) … Ghattas (2nd in ’05, 2nd in ’06)

2007 NCAA Midwest Regional Champions (2) – Nott and Hurley … Jedrkowiak and Thanhouser both placed 2nd at the Regional while Providenza, Ghattas and Kostka all were 3rd, Howard and Kubik each took 4th, Prot was 5th and Serrette 6th

PENN STATE TEAM CAPSULE
Current National Rankings and 2006-07 Regular-Season Records – Men #1 (20-3) … Women #1 (25-1)

2007 NCAA Participants (12)
Men’s Foil – Jeff Chang (Jr.; Hong Kong); Nick Chinman (Fr.; Boulder, CO)
Men’s Epee – Arthur Urman (Jr.; Maalot, Israel); Steffen Launer (Fr.; Neuweiller, Germany)
Men’s Sabre – Franz Boghicev (Jr.; Dormagen, Germany); Ian Farr (Sr.; Portland, OR)
Women ‘s Foil – Tamara Najm (Sr.; Morristown, NJ); Doris Willette (Fr.; Lafayette, CA)
Women’s Epee – Case Szarwark (Sr.; Nashville, TN); Anastasia Ferdman (Fr.; Maalot, Israel)
Women’s Sabre – Sophia Hiss (Sr.; Oklahoma City, OK); Caity Thompson (So.; Portland, OR)

All-America Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (8 individials/13 honors) – Hiss (5th in ’06, 5th in ’05, 2nd in ’04) … Szarwark (7th in ’06, 9th in ’05) … Boghicev (6th in ’06, 4th in ’05) … Urman (11th in ’06, 8th in ’05) … Thompson (4th in ’06) … Farr (5th in ’04) … Chang (11th in ’05) … Najm (11th in ’06)

NCAA Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (8 individials/16 appearances) – Hiss (5th in ’06, 5th in ’05, 2nd in ’04) … Szarwark (7th in ’06, 9th in ’05, 18th in ’04) … Boghicev (6th in ’06, 4th in ’05) … Urman (11th in ’06, 8th in ’05) … Farr (13th in ’05, 5th in ’04) … Thompson (4th in ’06) … Chang (19th in ’06, 11th in ’05) … Najm (11th in ’06)

Former NCAA Semifinalists at 2007 NCAAs (3 individials/3 honors) – Hiss (2nd in ’04) … … Boghicev (4th in ’05) … … Thompson (4th in ’06)

2007 NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional Champions (4) – Thompson, Chinman, Ferdman and Doris Willette … epeeist James Moody (19th at ’06 NCAAs) also won the Regional title but withdrew from a potential NCAA spot due to injury … Launer and Urman were 2nd and 3rd in the Regional men’s foil standings and Boghicev and Hiss both placed 2nd in sabre (Chang and Szarwark both posted 3rd-place Regional finishes in their weapons while Farr and Najm were 4th).

COLUMBIA TEAM CAPSULE
Current National Rankings and 2006-07 Regular-Season Records – Men #2 (10-2) … Women #2 (14-0)

2007 NCAA Participants (12)
Men’s Foil – Scott Sugimoto (Sr.; Pacific Palisades, CA); Kurt Getz (Fr.; Rye, NY)
Men’s Epee – Max Czapanskiy (So.; Takoma Park, MD); Dwight Smith (So.; Almont, NY)
Men’s Sabre – Alexander Krul (Sr.; Los Angeles, CA); James Williams (Sr.; Sacramento, CA)
Women ‘s Foil – Cassidy Luitjen (Sr.; San Antonio, TX); Kathleen Reckling (Sr.; White Plains, NY)
Women’s Epee – Alexie Rubin (Sr.; Los Angeles, CA); Tess Finkel (Fr.; New York, NY)
Women’s Sabre – Emily Jacobson (Jr.; Atlanta, GA); Daria Schneider (So.; Brookline, MA)

All-America Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (8 individials/12 honors) – Jacobson (2nd in ’06, 1st in ’05) … Sugimoto (3rd in ’06, 6th in ’05) … Luitjen (11th in ’05, 10th in ’04) … Rubin (12th in ’05, 12th in ’04) … Williams (5th in ’06) … Krul (6th in ’04) … Smith (7th in ’06) … Reckling (12th in ’06)

NCAA Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (8 individials/12 appearances) – same as above

Former NCAA Semifinalists at 2007 NCAAs (2 individials/3 honors) – Jacobson (2nd in ’06, 1st in ’05) … Sugimoto (3rd in ’06)

2007 NCAA Northeast Regional Champions (2) – Sugimoto and Krul … other top Regional finishers included Luitjen and Williams (both 3rd), Jacobson (4th), Czapanskiy (4th), Getz (5th), Finkel (5th), Schneider (6th), Reckling (7th), Smith (8th) and Rubin (10th)

ST. JOHN’S TEAM CAPSULE
Current National Rankings and 2006-07 Regular-Season Records – Men #3 (13-2) … Women #3 (13-3)

2007 NCAA Participants (12)
Men’s Foil – Henry Kennard (Sr.; Concord, MA); Alexis Landreville (Fr.; Montreal, Quebec)
Men’s Epee – Benjamin Bratton (Sr.; New York, NY); Stan Vaksman (So.; Odessa, Ukraine)
Men’s Sabre – Luther Clement (Jr.; Prairie Village, KS); Torian Brown (Fr.; New York, NY)
Women ‘s Foil – Katia Larchanka (Jr.; Minsk, Belarus); Monika Golebiewski (So.; Bobb, Germany)
Women’s Epee – Reka Szele (Jr.; Budapest, Hungary); Tanya Novakovska (Fr.; Nikolaev, Ukraine)
Women’s Sabre – Olga Ovtchinnikova (So.; Toronto, Ontario); Dagmara Wozniak (Fr.; Avenel, NJ)

All-America Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (6 individials/8 honors) – Bratton (9th in ’06, 10th in ’05, 2nd in ’04) … Kennard (6th in ’04) … Larchanka (7th in ’06) … Clement (8th in ’06) … Szele (8th in ’06) … Ovtchinnikova (10th in ’06)

NCAA Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (6 individuals/11 appearances) – Bratton (9th in ’06, 10th in ’05, 2nd in ’04) … Kennard (13th in ’05, 6th in ’04) … Larchanka (7th in ’06, 13th in ’05) … Szele (8th in ’06, 13th in ’05) … Clement (8th in ’06) … Ovtchinnikova (10th in ’06)

Former NCAA Semifinalists at 2007 NCAAs (1 individual/1 honor) – Bratton (2nd in ’04)

2007 NCAA Northeast Regional Champions (4) – Vaksman, Szele, Wozniak, Goleviewski … Bratton, Novakovska, Ovtchinnikova and Kenard all claimed 2nd at the Regional (Landreville was 3rd, Brown 5th, Clement and Larchanka 6th)

OHIO STATE TEAM CAPSULE
Current National Rankings and 2006-07 Regular-Season Records – Men #4 (29-1) … Women #4 (27-3)

2007 NCAA Participants (11)
Men’s Foil – Andras Horanyi (So.; Boulder, CO); Will Jeter (Jr.; Cincinnati, OH)
Men’s Epee – Jason Pryor (So.; Cleveland, OH); Mykhaylo Mazur (Fr.; Khmelnitskiy, Ukraine)
Men’s Sabre – Mike Momtzelidze (So.; Overland Park, MO); Sergey Smirnov (Fr.; Shymkent, Kazachstan)
Women ‘s Foil – Julia Tikhonova (Fr.; Jerusalem, Israel)
Women ‘s Epee – Alexandra Obrazcova (Jr.; Daugavspils, Latvia); Leslie Lampman (Jr.; Gibsonia, PA)
Women’s Sabre – Siobhan Byrne (Jr.; Eislingen, Germany); Eileen Grench (Jr.; Davis, CA)

All-America Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (3 individuals/4 honors) – Byrne (7th in ’06, 3rd in ’05) … Horanyi (2nd in ’06) … Grench (11th in ’06)

NCAA Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (5 individuals/6 appearances) – Byrne (7th in ’06, 3rd in ’05) … Horanyi (2nd in ’06) … Grench (11th in ’06) … Jeter (14th in ’05) … Pryor (17th in ’06) … note that Momtselidze qualified for the 2006 NCAAs but did not fence due to injury

Former NCAA Semifinalists at 2007 NCAAs (2 individuals/2 honors) – Horanyi (2nd in ’06) … Byrne (3rd in ’05)

2007 NCAA Midwest Regional Champions (3) – Momtselidze, Horanyi and Byrne… Lampman, Grench and Mazur each posted runner-up finishes at the 2007 Regional while Jeter was 3rd and Smirnov, Obrazcova and Tikhonova all took 4th (Pryor was 5th)

HARVARD TEAM CAPSULE
Current National Rankings and 2006-07 Regular-Season Records – Men #5 (12-1) … Women #5 (14-1)

2007 NCAA Participants (11)
Men’s Foil – Kai Itameri-Kinter (So.; North Attleboro, MA); Enoch Woodhouse (Sr.; Boston, MA)
Men’s Epee – Teddy Sherrill (Jr.; Short Hills, NJ)
Men’s Sabre – Tim Hagamen (Sr.; New York, NY); Dan Sachs (Sr.; Plano, TX)
Women ‘s Foil -Misha Goldfeder (Fr.; Rochester, NY); Arielle Pensler (Fr.; Chicago, IL)
Women ‘s Epee – Jasmine McGlade (Sr.; Littleton, CO); Maria Larsson (So.; Stockholm, Sweden)
Women’s Sabre – Alexa Weingarden (Jr.; Edina, MN); * Samantha Parker (Jr.; Rockville Center, NY)

All-America Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (5 individuals/6 honors) – Hagamen (4th in ’06, 3rd in ’05) … Woodhouse (5th in ’04) … Itameri-Kinter (6th in ’06) … McGlade (7th in ’05) … Larsson (9th in ’06)

NCAA Veterans at 2007 NCAAs (6 individuals/12 appearances) – Woodhouse (16th in ’06, 19th in ’05, 5th in ’04) … McGlade (14th in ’06, 7th in ’05, 13th in ’04) … Hagamen (4th in ’06, 3rd in ’05) … Weingarden (14th in ’06, 14th in ’05) … Itameri-Kinter (6th in ’06) … Larsson (9th in ’06)

Former NCAA Semifinalists at 2007 NCAAs (1 individual/2 honors) – Hagamen (4th in ’06, 3rd in ’05)

2007 NCAA Northeast Regional Champions (0) – Hagamen was the men’s sabre runner-up at the Northeast Regional while Weingarden and Larsson each posted 3rd-place Regional finishes and McGlade was 4th (Goldfelder was 5th and Sherrill 6th while Woodhouse, Pensler, Itameri-Kitner and Sachs all placed 8th, with Parker in 10th)

* Note – Parker is a replacement into the field for Cornell’s Ivana Zgaljic

BREAKING DOWN THE WEAPON GROUPS

Most All-Americans in the Field (24 per weapon)
10 – men’s foil
9 – men’s sabre, women’s epee, women’s sabre
8 – women’s foil
6 – men’s epee

Most Three-Time All-Americans in the Field
2 – men’s sabre (Ghattas and Igoe) and women’s sabre (Providenza and Hiss)
1 – women’s epee (Garina) and men’s epee (Bratton)

Most Multi-Time All-Americans in the Field
5 – men’s sabre
4 – men’s epee and women’s sabre
3 – women’s epee
2 – men’s foil and women’s foil

Most Fencers in the Field with NCAA Tournament Experience
16 – men’s foil
13 -women’s sabre
12 – men’s epee, men’s sabre and women’s foil
11 – women’s epee

Most Former Semifinalists in the Field (fencers counted once)
5 -women’s sabre
4 -men’s sabre
13 – men’s foil and women’s epee
2 – men’s epee
0 – women’s foil

MEN’S FOIL – The competition should be heated in men’s foil, with two-thirds of the entrants (16 of 24) having previous experience at the NCAAs, led by 10 All-Americans and three – Columbia’s Sugimoto (3rd in ’06, 6th in ’05), OSU’s Horanyi (2nd in ’06) and Penn’s Ron Berkowsky (3rd in ’06, 6th in ’05) who have advanced to the semifinals … in addition to the various fencers mentioned above in the six-team breakdown, Penn’s Michael Galligan (9th in ’06 and 04) and Stanford’s Richard Fulton (17th in ’06, 9th in ’05) are former All-Americans … the four others with NCAA Tournament experience include Princeton’s Alejandro Bras, Duke Ben Hendricks, UCSD’s Cameron Sprowles and Will Friedman of Brandeis.

MEN’S EPEE – This weapon would appear to have the biggest opening for newcomers to make their move, as the 24 entrants include only 12 with NCAA Tournament experience, only six who have been All-Americans (top-12 at NCAAs) and only two who previously have reached the NCAA semifinals (SJU’s Bratton was the 2004 NCAA runner-up while Wayne State’s Marek Petraszek placed 2nd in ’06) … in addition to Petraszek (also 13th in ’06, 7th in ’04) and the fencers mentioned previously from the top-six contending teams, other top men’s epeeists to watch include Yale’s Michael Pearce (5th in ’06) and Jason Henderson of Rutgers (12th in `06, 18th in ’05, 8th in ’04) … four others in the 2007 field are NCAA veterans: Princeton’s Tommi Hurme, Stanford’s Clayton Kenney, Kai Moritz-Keller of Brandeis and Drew’s Dana Sanford … Wayne State newcomer Slava Zingerman also could make an impact in his first NCAAs.

MEN’S SABRE – Nine All-Americans and three others with NCAA experience will be on hand to battle on the men’s sabre strip, led by an impressive foursome who have semifinal finishes to their credit: ND’s Ghattas (2nd in ’06 and ’06, 10th in ’04), PSU’s Boghicev (6th in ’06, 4th in `05), Harvard’s Hagamen (4th in ’06, 3rd in ’05) and Ben Igoe of Rutgers (7th in ’06, 8th in ’05, 3rd in ’04) … others to watch include those mentioned above from the top-six teams, plus Stanford All-American Teddy Levitt (9th in ’06) and three more NCAA veterans: Detroit’s Jaroslaw Jelinek, Penn’s Matt Kolasa and UNC’s Robert Ziechmann.

WOMEN’S FOIL – The NCAA competition in Houston two years ago featured a blockbuster field in women’s foil but the bouting could be more wide open in 2007, with just half of the field being NCAA veterans, only eight of them former All-Americans (none of whom have ever reached the NCAA semifinals) … in addition to the noteworthy members of the top teams, others to keep an eye on include the All-America duo from Northwestern – Jessica Florendo (5th in ’06, 12th in ’05, 13th in `04) and Samantha Nemecek (8th in ’06) – along with Penn’s Abby Emerson (9th in ’06) … others with NCAA Tournament experience include Penn’s Ilana Sinkin, UCSD’s Jen Chun, Princeton’s Sara Jew-Lim and Yale’s Alisa Mendelsohn.

WOMEN’S EPEE – The field for this weapon features nine All-Americans but just one other NCAA veteran … the women’s epee field is led by three who have past experience with reaching the NCAA semifinals: WSU’s Anna Garina (2nd in ’06, 1st in ’05 and ’04) and Justyna Konczalska (4th in ’06) and Duke’s Anne Kercsmar (16th in ’06 and ’05, 3rd in ’04) … Princeton’s Erin McGarry (5th in ’06, 14th in ’04) also owns an All-America finish while Air Force’s Eliza Enyart and UNC’s Courtney Krolikoski.

WOMEN’S SABRE – This weapon features the most former semifinalists (5), in the form of ND’s Valerie Providenza (9th in ’06, 4th in ’05, 1st in ’04), PSU’s Sophia Hiss (5th in ’06 and ’05, 2nd in ’02) and Caity Thompson (4th in ’06), OSU’s Siobhan Byrne (7th in ’06, 3rd in ’05) and Columbia’s Emily Jacobson (2nd in ’06, 1st in ’05) … the 13 with NCAA experience and nine All-Americans include others from the top-six teams, plus Stanford’s Eva Jellison (8th in ’06) and WSU’s Kasia Kuzniak (12th in ’06) … the others with NCAA experience: Northwestern’s Mai Vu, Cornell’s Alexandra Heiss and Penn’s Cassandra Partyka.