By Pritish BehuriaThe Daily Northwestern
There’s a fresh look on Northwestern’s fencing team this year, and the change reaped early rewards for the team.
The beginning of the seventh year of NU’s fencing program saw the recruitment of 13 freshman, six of whom achieved top-10 placings in their events at last weekend’s USFA Remenyik Open.
“We’ve brought in a number of freshmen, and the foil team is a lot deeper than last time,” coach Laurie Schiller said. “The epee team is also definitely stronger, and the sabre team has a few strong freshmen as well.”
Out of the three freshmen finishing in the top 10 in the women’s epee division, Christa French was the most impressive, finishing in a tie for third.
Senior Mai VanVu finished third in the women’s sabre division, while senior Jessica Florendo and junior Natalie Wang finished second and tied for third, respectively, in the women’s foil division.
The foil team was the Cats’ strongest division last year, with the team finishing with three conference gold medalists.
Freshman Karolyn Szot was tied in third with Wang in the women’s foil division and looked to be in good touch this weekend until she injured her knee in the semifinal.
“It was unfortunate for her and the team,” Schiller said. “We don’t know when she’ll be back.”
Schiller said he was impressed with the way the team performed, particularly since they had only been practicing for a month. He said no player had reached their peak yet, and they had room to improve.
The team is coming off an impressive 2005-06 season with NU finishing in seventh at the 2006 National Fencing Championship.
The Cats lost Emily Pasternak and Sharon Sullivan, two NCAA qualifiers, to graduation, Pasternak had been a leader for the Cats in the epee division and finished 13th in the NCAA Championship.
“A lot of the players are still freshmen this year,” Schiller said. “Patience will be vital to their improvement and working on a strategic game.”
The weekend was a good showing for the Cats and allowed the freshmen to test themselves against tough competition ahead of the Junior North American Cup, which is coming up on Nov. 11.
“It was a tough tournament which is tougher than most collegiate tournaments,” Schiller said. “There isn’t a team out there which we can’t beat, and I’m expecting a good season.”
Reach Pritish Behuria at [email protected]
