Northwestern University Athletics
The 1999-2000 Fencing Season in Review
4/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
April 20, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern women's fencing team finished the 1999-2000 campaign with a 35-1 regular season record, defeated Notre Dame for the Midwest Conference Championship and qualified five fencers for this year's NCAA Championships.
The 35-1 record is the best in head coach Laurie Schiller's 22-year career at Northwestern -- in fact, the last time the `Cats eclipsed 30 wins was 1995-96, when they were 30-7.
With 35 more wins, Schiller upped his overall record to 706-371. He reached number 700 against Michigan State, 24-3, at the Detroit Mercy Duals in Detroit, Mich.
Ranked No. 2 in the nation, the women's fencing defeated ranked teams throughout the season, with the only loss coming at the hands of No. 1 Penn State at the Notre Dame Duals in South Bend, Ind. Conversely, the Wildcats defeated No. 3 Princeton, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 6 Columbia, No. 8 St. John's and No. 9 Temple during the course of the campaign to solidify its ranking.
Along with the team's success, the respective weapons enjoyed excellent seasons. The sabre team finished with a best-ever 33-3 record, while ep?e went 30-6 and foil went 31-5.
After an outstanding regular season the women's fencing team had three individuals receive All-America honors at the NCAA Fencing Championships. Senior Vivian Imaizumi led the way as she earned first team honors. Imaizumi headed to the national tournament with an overall record of 97-13 and a .882 winning percentage, then went 17-6 at the NCAA's to place fourth.
Both Carly Wells and Kate Rudkin received second-team All-American honors, placing fifth in their respective weapons. Wells finished one spot behind Imaizumi in the sabre division as she ended the national tourney with 16 wins. She headed into nationals with an overall record of 84-14 and a winning percentage of .857. Rudkin, meanwhile, was the only Wildcat freshman to qualify for NCAA's, where she finished fifth in ep?e with a 17-6 record. She ended the campaign with an overall record of 103-15.
