Northwestern University Athletics
Thursday, March 24
Waltham, Mass.
All Day
Northwestern
vs
NCAA Championships
Four Wildcats Head to NCAA Championships
3/22/2016 4:13:00 PM | Women's Fencing
By Amit Mallik
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will send four fencers to compete at the NCAA Championships on Thursday and Friday at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.
Jen Yamin will fence in foil, Alisha Gomez-Shah will fence in sabre, and Juliana Barrett and Courtney Dumas will fence in epee. Each weapon consists of the top 24 fencers in the country, with fencers almost exclusively from the top-ten ranked schools in the country.
The format of each weapon squad's tournament will be a 24-fencer round robin stage of standard five-touch bouts with the top four fencers from each weapon advancing to the knockout stages. The semifinals and finals will be 15-touch bouts, with no third place match.
The four fencers will look to continue a successful year for the No. 5 Wildcats, who finished 39-6 in the regular season. In Laurie Schiller's final season as head coach, the team also brought home the program's fourth Midwest Fencing Conference Championship and first since 2001.
Senior Jen Yamin will appear in her third NCAA Championships after finishing 15th last year. Yamin has been a leader this year for the foil with her 58-32 record and a group-high ninth place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals. She picked up ten wins this season at the Vassar Duals and 20 wins at the second NU Duals. Her career record currently stands at 221-100, and she has three top-ten finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regionals.
Junior Alisha Gomez-Shah will also return to the NCAA Championships for the third year in a row, after finishing 12th last year and becoming an All-American. Along with her 62-15 record this season, she earned a weapon-high sixth place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals and a gold medal in the individual and team sabre events at the MFC Championships. She will look to build on her 143-38 career record, which includes a top-five Midwest Regional finish.
Senior Juliana Barrett will also make her second straight NCAA Championships appearance and will look to improve on last year's top-ten finish, which made her an All-American. She posted a 62-23 record this season and took home a bronze medal at the NCAA Midwest Regionals along with an individual silver medal at the MFC Championships. Her career accomplishments include a 166-76 record along with two top-ten finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regionals.
Senior Courtney Dumas, another All-American, will make her fourth NCAA Championships appearance in four years, with her personal best ninth place finish coming in her sophomore year. Along with Barrett, she helped lead the epee group to a dominant 45-3 record and a gold medal at the MFC Championships. Individually, she ended the season with an impressive 82-16 record, finished sixth at the NCAA Midwest Regionals and took home a gold medal at the MFC Championships. For her career, she has a 336-94 record, three top-three Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, and three top-ten NCAA Midwest Regional finishes including one first place finish.
The NCAA Championships will be the last event of Schiller's distinguished 38-year career before he retires. Follow the Wildcats' quest for glory here. The semifinals and finals for each group will be streamed live without commentary on WatchESPN.
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will send four fencers to compete at the NCAA Championships on Thursday and Friday at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.
Jen Yamin will fence in foil, Alisha Gomez-Shah will fence in sabre, and Juliana Barrett and Courtney Dumas will fence in epee. Each weapon consists of the top 24 fencers in the country, with fencers almost exclusively from the top-ten ranked schools in the country.
The format of each weapon squad's tournament will be a 24-fencer round robin stage of standard five-touch bouts with the top four fencers from each weapon advancing to the knockout stages. The semifinals and finals will be 15-touch bouts, with no third place match.
The four fencers will look to continue a successful year for the No. 5 Wildcats, who finished 39-6 in the regular season. In Laurie Schiller's final season as head coach, the team also brought home the program's fourth Midwest Fencing Conference Championship and first since 2001.
Senior Jen Yamin will appear in her third NCAA Championships after finishing 15th last year. Yamin has been a leader this year for the foil with her 58-32 record and a group-high ninth place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals. She picked up ten wins this season at the Vassar Duals and 20 wins at the second NU Duals. Her career record currently stands at 221-100, and she has three top-ten finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regionals.
Junior Alisha Gomez-Shah will also return to the NCAA Championships for the third year in a row, after finishing 12th last year and becoming an All-American. Along with her 62-15 record this season, she earned a weapon-high sixth place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals and a gold medal in the individual and team sabre events at the MFC Championships. She will look to build on her 143-38 career record, which includes a top-five Midwest Regional finish.
Senior Juliana Barrett will also make her second straight NCAA Championships appearance and will look to improve on last year's top-ten finish, which made her an All-American. She posted a 62-23 record this season and took home a bronze medal at the NCAA Midwest Regionals along with an individual silver medal at the MFC Championships. Her career accomplishments include a 166-76 record along with two top-ten finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regionals.
Senior Courtney Dumas, another All-American, will make her fourth NCAA Championships appearance in four years, with her personal best ninth place finish coming in her sophomore year. Along with Barrett, she helped lead the epee group to a dominant 45-3 record and a gold medal at the MFC Championships. Individually, she ended the season with an impressive 82-16 record, finished sixth at the NCAA Midwest Regionals and took home a gold medal at the MFC Championships. For her career, she has a 336-94 record, three top-three Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, and three top-ten NCAA Midwest Regional finishes including one first place finish.
The NCAA Championships will be the last event of Schiller's distinguished 38-year career before he retires. Follow the Wildcats' quest for glory here. The semifinals and finals for each group will be streamed live without commentary on WatchESPN.
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Players Mentioned
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