Pauline Hamilton Finishes Seventh at North American Cup

10/11/2016 4:45:00 PM | Women's Fencing

DETROIT, Mich. -- Northwestern continued its strong start to the season with an impressive showing against talented competition this weekend at the October North American Cup in Detroit, Mich.

Leading the way for the seventh-ranked Wildcats were freshman Pauline Hamilton, junior Katie Van Riper, and sophomore Maddy Curzon, who all finished in the top-16 in their respective events. Across the board, the 'Cats handled themselves well in individual weapon group competitions against the best fencers in the country.

Hamilton's sizzling start to her collegiate career continued with a seventh-place finish in senior epee on Saturday, the highest finish of any Wildcat in a senior-level event over the weekend. She went 4-1 in her opening round pool, received a bye in the second round direct elimination bracket, went 3-2 in the third round pool and wrapped up the day with four more wins in the final elimination bracket. Hamilton is the first Wildcat to finish in the top-eight at a Division I North American Cup since Courtney Dumas finished sixth in the January NAC in 2014.

Her top-eight finish placed her amongst world level athletes Isabel Di Tella of Argentina and U.S. Olympians Kelly Hurley, Courtney Hurley and Katharine Holmes.

"Pauline had a terrific result this weekend," head coach Zach Moss said. "It reflects how hard she has been working and her investment in the process that our coaching staff has put in place for our team. She is an excellent fencer, and this result gave us a glimpse of what she is capable of this season. We are excited to see where her continued growth takes her."

Van Riper opened the four-day event with the ideal start on Friday, as she won the Division II women's epee after going 4-1 in pool play and winning six straight elimination matches to take home first place.

Curzon turned in a 16th place finish on Monday to lead Northwestern in the senior Division I sabre competition. Senior Alisha Gomez-Shah and junior Emine Yucel placed 27th and 31st, respectively, to both land in the top-32 and earn U.S. national points. Junior Sacha Bazzal also notched a top-64 finish.

Sophomore Sharon Chen and freshman Amy Jia paced the 'Cats in senior foil on Friday, finishing 37th and 39th respectively. Freshman Alexandra Banin was not far behind, tying for 42nd, and senior Stephanie Chan also finished in the top-64.

The Wildcats are back in action in November when they kick off dual competition in Philadelphia on Nov. 5 at the Elite Invitational with multiple top-ten ranked teams in attendance.