Northwestern University Athletics
Schiller Adds Six Fencers For 2011-12 Season
12/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
Dec. 29, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head fencing coach Laurie Schiller has announced the signing of six future student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. The soon-to-be Wildcats will begin competition for Northwestern beginning the 2011-12 season.
"Signing six quality student-athletes is an excellent start to what we hope will be a top-notch class," said Schiller. "We look forward to having them all join our program and are excited to see what they can contribute to the program."
The group comprises five different states with Katherine Kim (Encino, Calif./Marlborough School) and Mary Spohn (Toluca Lake, Calif./Mayfield Senior School) each hailing from California. Tina Umanskiy (Chicago, Ill./University of Chicago Lab School) brings local talent to the program with Courtney Dumas (Shaker Heighs, Ohio/Hathaway Brown), Sonali Patel (San Antonio, Texas/Episcopal School) and Mary Regan (Woodbridge, Conn./The Hopkins School) rounding out the class.
All six signees will bring depth to their respective weapons as the group includes three foilists (Kim, Spohn and Umanskiy), a pair of epéeists (Dumas and Patel) and one sabre (Regan).
Northwestern's Incoming 2011-12 Class
| Fencer | Weapon | Hometown/High School |
| Courtney Dumas |
Epée | Shaker Heights, Ohio/Hathaway Brown |
| Katherine Kim | Foil | Encino, Calif./Marlborough School |
| Sonali Patel | Epée | San Antonio, Texas/Episcopal School |
| Mary Regan | Sabre | Woodbridge, Conn./The Hopkins School |
| Mary Spohn | Foil | Toluca Lake, Calif./Mayfield Senior School |
| Tina Umanskiy | Foil | Chicago, Ill./Chicago Lab School |
Courtney Dumas
Epée • Shaker Heights, Ohio/Hathaway Brown
Schiller's Thoughts: "We are very pleased to have Courtney join our program. She has been really improving her results in the past year, including a sixth-place finish in the Junior North American Cup in November. A truly hard worker, she will be a great addition to our already strong epée squad and will challenge our top athletes for starting spots. She gives us a strong epée cadre spread over three classes which will keep our epée team as one of the best for years to come."
Katherine Kim
Foil • Encino, Calif./Marlborough School
Schiller's Thoughts: "Katherine brings a great deal of unfulfilled potential to our foil team. A solid up and coming junior fencer, she has achieved her B rating despite having to fly to San Jose to get lessons at her club. She has had moderate national results but with regular training, we expect her to become a solid part of our team."
Sonali Patel
Epée • San Antonio, Texas/Episcopal School
Schiller's Thoughts: "Sonali will be a great addition to our ever growing number of Texas epée fencers. She will be our fifth in just the past three years and will bring a great willingness to work and challenge the top women on the squad. After graduating four epée fencers in 2010, Sonali will be able to step in and really add depth to the epée team."
Mary Regan
Sabre • Woodbridge, Conn./The Hopkins School
Schiller's Thoughts: "Mary is a great young lady and a strong sabre fencer who will really make an impact on our program. She finished in the final of the 2010 National Junior Olympics and is ranked in the top 30 on the USA Fencing Junior point list. We are really excited to have her and expect her to really blossom in our program and help replace the four seniors who will be gone next year."
Mary Spohn
Foil • Toluca Lake, Calif./Mayfield Senior School
Schiller's Thoughts: "Mary, like Katherine Kim, with whom she trains, is also an up and coming junior fencer just waiting her opportunity to train regularly and shine. She also travels to her club up in San Jose and hasn't had the chance to fulfill her potential. As with the case with Katherine, we expect her to get stronger and make a good contribution to the foil squad."
Tina Umanskiy
Foil • Chicago, Ill./Chicago Lab School
Schiller's Thoughts: "Tina is a local fencer who began her career at Stevenson High School before transferring to the Chicago Lab School where there is no team. She is a member of associate head coach Ed Kaihatsu's Lakeshore Fencing Club and will be a nice addition to the depth of our foil squad."
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