Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Set To Host 2010 NCAA Midwest Regional
3/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
March 12, 2010
2010 NCAA Midwest Regional Participants 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern returns to the strips in Evanston one final time this season as the third-ranked Wildcats will serve as the hosts of the 2010 NCAA Midwest Regional at the Sports and Aquatic Center. Both men and women will be competing and seeking a berth in the 2010 NCAA Championships in two weeks.
Seven schools will be represented at SPAC this weekend including a handful of ranked teams. In addition to the Wildcats, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Cleveland State, Detroit, Lawrence and Wayne State will take to the strips. Women's competition will take place Saturday, March 13, beginning at 10 a.m. CT, with the men competing Sunday, March 14, beginning at 9 a.m. CT.
Northwestern is coming off a third-place finish at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships last weekend in South Bend and will have 11 fencers seeking a spot in the championship. Five of them will compete in the women's epée as three-time All-American Christa French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) seeks her fourth trip to the NCAA Championships, while her sister Kayley French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) is vying for her third. Senior Joanna Niklinska (Granger, Ind./Penn) is hoping to qualify for nationals for the second time in her career while freshmen Kate Cavanaugh (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) and Karalina Collins (Houston, Texas/Waltrip) compete in their first career regional.
Sophomore Devynn Patterson (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt), who just missed being named an All-American in the women's foil last season, looks to qualify for her second NCAA Championship. Sophomore Camille Provencal (St. Paul, Minn./Central) and freshman Dayana Sarkisova (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) will also take to the strips seeking their first trip to nationals.
Fresh off her Midwst Fencing Conference individual title in the women's sabre, freshman Alicia Gurrieri (Medford, N.J./Moorestown Friends) is set to compete in her first career regional. She will be joined by senior teammates Whitney White (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) and Allie Keller (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) who hope to close out their Wildcat careers with an appearance in nationals.
Results of this weekend's NCAA Regional will be posted online at NUsports.com, with those who qualify participating at the 2010 NCAA Championships in Cambridge, Mass., beginning Thursday, March 25 and running through Sunday, March 28.
