Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
USFA Burton Open
Wildcats Place Fourteen Top-Ten Fencers at USFA Burton Open
10/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
EVANSTON, Ill. -- On a busy day at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion 14 Northwestern fencers battled to top-10 finishes and two took home gold medals at the United States Fencing Association (USFA) Burton Open.
The women's epée competition was the first on the docket Sunday, and while no one from Northwestern claimed the top spot on the medal stand, there were three Wildcats in the top four and five in the top 22.
Sophomore Mandeep Bhinder led the Wildcats with a perfect 5-0 record in pool bouts, while freshman Anna Tolley won four times in five chances. Junior Kaitlyn Wallace, NU's most experienced epée fencer this day went 3-2 in her pool. All three cruised all the way through the direct elimination (DE) portion to the semifinals.
Bhinder and Wallace faced off in the first semifinal and Wallace got the best of her younger teammate, winning narrowly 15-14. Tolley dropped her semifinal bout against Eleanor Leighton, 15-12, before Leighton went on to trip up Wallace in the gold-medal bout, 15-11. Wallace, who entered DE as the fifth seed, finished second, while Bhinder and Tolley tied for third place. Helen Foster finished 15th in epée, while newcomer Katie Van Riper finished 22nd overall.
Northwestern had a very strong showing in women's sabre as there were four 'Cats in the top five, including the top three. Cindy Oh led the charge through pool bouts with six wins (+25), while Ania Parzecki and Nika Shender each finished with five. Parzecki's only loss came against her teammate Emine Yücel, who went 3-3.
Oh, the top seed in women's sabre, blanked Mary Hardig in the first round, 15-0, before knocking off a fellow Wildcat, Sacha Bazzal, in the quarterfinals. After knocking off Allison Kim in the semifinals, the NU sophomore toppled Yücel, 15-6, to win the gold medal. Yücel, who took second place, knocked off her classmate Shender (15-5) in the quarterfinals and Parzecki in the semifinals, 15-14.
The majority of Northwestern's entrants took part in the women's foil competition. Six more Wildcats finished in the top 10, including the top finisher, sophomore Stephanie Chan.
Like her classmate, Oh, Chan did not lose a single bout Sunday. She won all four of her pool bouts to secure the fourth seed in DE. After four relatively comfortable victories, Chan was set to face off against 2014 NCAA Championship qualifier Jen Yamin in the semifinals. Yamin, the ninth seed, got to that point in the day by pulling a pair of upsets in DE, including one against top-seeded Alexa Prasher. In the battle of the Wildcats it was Chan the outlasted Yamin, 14-13, to move on to the gold-medal bout.
Chan faced Justine Banbury, the 31st seed in the final bout, winning by five touches, 15-10. Banbury upset two higher-seeded 'Cats during DE, second-seeded sophomore Sarit Kapon, who went undefeated (5-0, +19) in pool play, in the round of 32 and junior sixth seed Charlotte Sands in the quarterfinals.
In addition to Chan and Yamin, freshman Stefani Kahookele reached the semifinals from the other side of the bracket. The San Francisco native was the third seed after five pool wins (+12) and she bested Katherine Kim and Kayla Kelch during her march toward a medal. She dropped her semifinal bout against Banbury, 15-11.
To view full results from the 2014 USFA Burton Open, visit AskFRED.net or click the link near the top of the page.
The Wildcats will travel to Portland, Ore., next weekend, for the October North American Cup, which begins on Friday, October 10. Northwestern returns to Evanston for the USFA Remenyik Open, named after former head coach Charlotte Remenyik, on Oct. 25-26 at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion.
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