Northwestern Dominates USFA Burton Open

9/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing

Sept. 29, 2013


	2012 USFA Burton Open Henry Crown Sports Pavilion • Evanston, Ill. Epée Results \| Foil Results \| Sabre Results

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern has traditionally been dominant at the USFA Burton Open and Saturday was no exception. The Wildcats earned gold medals in all three weapons, eight total medals and 19 top-10 finishes at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion on campus.

One NU fencer who is no stranger to success at the Burton Open is junior Courtney Dumas. Dumas turned in a strong performance yet again to collect her third consecutive gold medal in women's epée on Saturday. The Cleveland, Ohio native went 5-0 in her pool and cruised to the finals, where she faced off with NU teammate Dina Bazarbayeva. Dumas got the best of the lone Northwestern senior, 15-13.

In addition to Dumas and Bazarbayeva, the Wildcats placed a fencer in the third spot on the medal stand in sophomore Juliana Barrett. Sophomore Helen Foster placed fifth, freshman Mandeep Bhinder was eighth and Olivia Lim tied for ninth place Saturday.

Northwestern also claimed three to spots in the women's foil event. Sophomore Jen Yamin won all six of her pool bouts and rolled into the direct elimination round as the top seed. After knocking off three of her NU teammates in DE bouts, Yamin faced classmate Charlotte Sands in the finale. Like Dumas and Bazarbayeva, Yamin and Sands engaged in a tight battle that would be decided by only two touches. Yamin won the bout to earn the gold with Sands snagging the silver. Freshman Kayla Kelch finished tied for third to secure a bronze medal.

In all the Wildcats placed eight fencers in the top nine in women's foil Saturday. Freshman Stella Pointeau finished fifth in the event, just ahead of a trio of juniors: Mary Spohn, Tina Umanskiy and Katherine Kim. Another newcomer, Stephanie Chan finished ninth.

A pair of Northwestern freshmen, who happen to have been club teammates in New Jersey, earned gold and silver medals in women's sabre. Alisha Gomez-Shah went undefeated in her pool and earned the top seed for direct elimination. Cindy Oh went 5-1 and earned the second seed. The two 'Cats tore their way through DE and met in the championship where Gomez-Shah defeated Oh, 15-8, to win the gold.

Freshman Ania Parzecki finished sixth, Emily Comstock placed seventh, Cara Franke checked in at eighth and Julia Abelsky was ninth.

The Wildcats will host a Homecoming event for alumni on Friday, October 4 at Patten Gymnasium. Join the Wildcats to watch the parade and enjoy refreshments and fellowship after the march down Sheridan Road. The next competition for Northwestern will be the two-day USFA Remenyik Open on Oct. 26-27 at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion.

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