Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Head To South Bend For Midwest Conference Championships
3/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
March 5, 2010
2009-10 Northwestern Fencing Statistics
2010 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships Central
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Third-ranked Northwestern begins its postseason journey this weekend, heading down to South Bend, Ind., for the 2010 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships. Individual weapon competition begins at 8 a.m. Saturday morning at the Joyce Center on the Notre Dame campus, while the team competition gets underway at 8 a.m. Sunday morning.
The Wildcats, who posted a program-best 45 dual meet wins during the regular season, have finished in the top three in the MFC in each of the last 16 seasons, including capturing the team championships in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Northwestern will face some stiff competition all weekend, most notably from top-ranked Notre Dame and seventh-ranked Ohio State.
Last year in the conference championships, Northwestern finished third overall as a team, placing second in the epée and third in both the foil and sabre. But the highlight of the weekend was Sam Nemecek's individual championship in the women's foil, the 'Cats' first individual champion since Nemecek won the foil in 2006. Nine other NU fencers finished among the top-10 in their respective weapons, including Joanna Niklinska's second-place finish in the epée and Christa French and Devynn Patterson both tying for third in the epée and foil, respectively.
Northwestern hopes the momentum it has gained over the last month of the season will continue at the Joyce Center. The Wildcats have won 17 consecutive matches and 28 of their last 29, including a 15-12 victory over the seventh-ranked Buckeyes at the NU Duals.
A handful of Wildcats also are within striking distance of some impressive career milestones this weekend. Senior Christa French enters the weekend with 311 career victories, needing just two more to surpass Michelle Schaffner as the program's all-time wins leader in the epée. Four other seniors (Kayley French, Joanna Niklinska, Whitney White and Allie Keller) rank among the top-10 in victories in each of their respective weapons and look to move move further up among the program's all-time leaders.
Updates on both the individual and team competitions at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships can be found here.
Following this weekend's MFC Championships, the Wildcats who qualify for the NCAA Regionals will get one final chance to fence on their home campus this season as Northwestern will serve as the host of the Midwest Regionals. The final qualifying round for the NCAA Championships will be held Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 at the Sports and Aquatic Center (SPAC).
2010 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships Schedule
Saturday, March 6 - Individual Championships
8:00 a.m. - Women's foil pools begin.
9:30 a.m. - Women's sabre pools begin; women's foil direct elimination begin when ready.
10:45 a.m. - Approximate start time for women's sabre direct elimination.
12:30 p.m. - Approximate start time for women's foil, and women's sabre finals.
1:00 p.m. - Women's epée pools begin.
2:30 p.m. - Women's epée direct elimination begin when ready.
5:30 p.m. - Approximate start time for women's epee finals.
Sunday, March 7 - Team Championships
8:00 a.m. - Start time women's foil and women's sabre.
11:30 p.m. - Approximate start time for women's foil and women's sabre finals.
12:00 noon - Start time for women's epée.
3:30 p.m. - Approximate time for women's epée finals.
4:30 p.m. - Approximate start time of the awards ceremony (individual medals will be handed out first, followed by the team trophies).
