Cats TAKE ON ALL COMERS AT BURTON OPEN (FENCING)

By Franklin Kao

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern has its eyes on the prize this season, the prize being the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships.

After finishing last season tied for second in the conference, one of the team’s goals is to finish on top this year.

“We have a really good chance of winning the Midwest Conference as a team,” said senior Natalie Wang, the overall and foil captain of the team. “We have the talent on this team to win it, but we just haven’t.”

Last season, Wang, along with the rest of NU’s foil fencers, won the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships for their weapon. The epee and sabre squads both lost to Ohio State, the eventual conference champions.

Senior Gabby Aiuto, the captain of the epee team, said the team was physically ready to take the conference crown, but was not focused enough to finish first.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the team click together as a unit,” Aiuto said. “We had a lot of great freshmen on the team last year, but they were adjusting a lot to collegiate fencing. This year everyone’s got a lot of experience under their belt.”

Not only will the extra experience be beneficial for the Wildcats this season, but the large freshman class will have a significant impact as well.

Wang said the increase in numbers has already heightened the quality of their practices and will help the spirit of the team in future matches.

To help the freshmen feel more welcome, Aiuto said the team has put more emphasis on team bonding and chemistry, which is the extra push that could give them the edge in close tournaments.

One of the activities that has encouraged camaraderie was a recent team barbeque.

“We really just want to make the freshmen feel as comfortable as possible,” said senior Gina Annunziato, the captain of the sabre team. “All the upperclassmen … have bonded, but now we want to include the freshmen … while they’re getting accustomed to the campus.”

Along with the heightened expectations that the captains have for the Cats this year, coach Laurie Schiller said the team has the potential to beat any team in the country.

“I’m not going to be happy unless we win everything,” Schiller said. “Honestly, this is the team that can do that and it’s up to them to do it.”

Though most of the team is set on winning the conference championship, Schiller is also looking forward to a better performance at the NCAA championships. The team finished seventh last season.

Schiller said the team’s biggest challenge is to compete with consistency. Most of the losses last season should have resulted in wins, said Schiller.

With a large freshman class, team chemistry and experienced upperclassmen, NU will begin its push for the conference crown starting Saturday at the USFA Burton Open in Patten Gym.

Aside from fencing against college athletes, the Cats will be taking on all comers, as the event is open to the public.

Reach Franklin Kao at [email protected].