Fencing

Northwestern’s Laurie Schiller was named the 2016 Midwest Fencing Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, the conference announced on Tuesday. The conference has bestowed Schiller with this honor 11 times in his 38-year career with the Wildcats.

At the beginning of the season, Schiller announced this would be his last year as the coach of the team.

The University’s program has been remarkably successful since Schiller took over as the coach in 1978, and this year was no different.

The team finished with a 39-6 record, winning the Midwest Fencing Conference championship for the fourth time in program history as well as finishing in the top-10 at the NCAA championships for a 17th straight year.

NU finished with its third most wins ever under Schiller, and recorded its best record since the 2010-2011 season.

Along with winning the conference championship, Schiller coached seniors Courtney Dumas and Jen Yamin to All-American honors. The team also recorded a top-3 team finish at the conference tournament for the 26th straight year.

After 38 years, Schiller ends his Cats coaching career with 1,261 wins.

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