Northwestern University Athletics
Season Recap: 'Cats Finish In Top-10 Nationally
5/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
May 4, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern put together another monster season in 2004-05, posting a 33-4 record in dual matches before claiming third at the Midwest Conference Championships and eighth place at the NCAA Championships. The Wildcats cracked the 30-win mark for the first time since 2000, when they went 35-1 and finished atop the Midwest Conference. On a national level, head coach Laurie Schiller has now led the `Cats to top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships the past six years.
Northwestern not only succeeded as a team, but a number of Wildcats turned in outstanding individual performances, as well. Senior Julia Földi (Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istavan Gimnazium) closed the book on a brilliant career by placing eighth at NCAA's, becoming Northwestern's first four-time All-America. She also etched her name in the school record books with an 80-21 record in foil competition, making her the school's all-time wins leader in that weapon with 386.
With Foldi graduating, sophomore Jessica Florendo's (Forest Hills, N.Y./The Dwight School) postseason performance made a strong case for herself as NU's next great foilist. Florendo snared her first-career All-America nod team with a 12th place finish at the championships -- a year after missing out on the honor by only a few touches.
Senior sabreist Lauren Dunn (Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo), sophomore foilist Mai Vu (New York, N.Y./Bronx Science) and sophomore epeeist Courtney DuBois rounded out the NCAA quintet. Dunn returned to the championships for the first time since her freshman year, and closed her career in style with a 15th-place finish. In her second-straight trip to nationals, Vu improved from 20th to 16th, while first-time qualifier Dubois came in a 23rd.
Before Northwestern began dual competition, three sophomore NU fencers were invited to compete in the United States Fencing Association (USFA) Junior World Cup. Each fencer placed, as Sara Pecherek (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) took 16th, Vu took 20th, and Sophie Eustis (Andover, Mass. (Concord Academy) finished 49th.
Then in late November, the team started the dual season in dominating fashion on its home turf. The `Cats went 9-0 in the first NU Duals, allowing their opponents no greater than five points per match. At the second NU Duals in late January, the `Cats did not ease off the gas pedal one bit, when they posted a perfect 10-0 mark. Again, Northwestern did not allow any opponents to score in double digits.
In between both NU Duals, the `Cats indulged in some additional individual competition at the USFA North American Cup in Richmond, Va. There, in mid-December, the talented sophomore duo of Florendo and Dubois posted team-best top-40 finishes.
At the second North American Cup competition, this time in Overland Park, Kan. in mid-January, Földi and Florendo led the squad as they posted 14th and eighth-place finishes. The team also had two top-30 finishes in the sabre division.
Northwestern then returned to dual competition by traveling to the Notre Dame Duals. There, the squad suffered its first defeat at the hands of nationally ranked Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Penn State. The Wildcats managed to finish day one with a 3-3 record, and regrouped on day two to defeat Wisconsin, Detroit-Mercy and Chicago, finishing the dual at 6-3.
To open February, the `Cats posted an impressive 19-8 victory over a talented Stanford squad, helping Northwestern appear at No. 6 in the first national poll. NU followed up chopping down Stanford with a 4-0 sweep at the San Diego Duals, during which it knocked off a highly regarded Air Force squad 22-5.
"We beat a very good Air Force team that day," Laurie Schiller said. "The score may not look that way, but they were a tough team, and I'm very happy with how we competed."
The Temple duals provided a final challenge in team competition for the Wildcats, and they responded with a 3-1 mark, losing only to national powerhouse Pennsylvania.
At the Midwest Conference Championships, the squad placed six fencers in top four, giving the team six first-team All-Conference spots. Five `Cats also earned second-team honors, while three took honorable mention. As a team, Northwestern took the bronze at the championships for the third consecutive year.
At the Midwest Regionals, Dubois soared all the way to a team-best second place finish, securing one of five bids to the NCAA Championships. Five Wildcats -- seniors Lauren Dunn, Julia Foldi and Lauren Van Gieson and sophomores Courtney DuBois and Jessica Florendo -- all headed to the NCAA Championships, where they brought back an eighth-place finish.
Foldi ended her career on an extra-special note: By placing eighth at the NCAA Championships, she became Northwestern's first four-time All-America.
She etched her name in the record books in another way too. Foldi and fellow-senior Lauren Van Gieson each finished their Northwestern careers as the school's all-time wins leader in their respective weapons. Van Gieson is No. 1 in saber victories with 273-107, while Foldi tops the foil list. 386-77. Also, Lauren Dunn vaulted into second place, right behind Van Gieson, by finishing her career with a 264-116 saber record.
Even though those three seniors leave a big void by graduating, the future looks bright for Northwestern fencing and Schiller, who has a number of young fencers ready to step in next year and gun for another top-10 national finish.
