March 9, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's final meet before the NCAA Championships was this weekend at the Midwest Regionals, hosted by Cleveland State. The meet is one of four regional qualifiers for the NCAA meet, which will be held March 18-21 in Waltham, Mass. Junior Meghan Gaseor (Lebanon, Ill./Belleville Township East) finished in fifth place in the epee tournament with a 7-4 record in the final round. She finished with a numeric rank of fourth in the region, virtually assuring her an NCAA bid. Gaseor was competing despite badly spraining her ankle in her second final-round match.
Junior Tara Houseworth (Charleston, Ill./Charleston) finished seventh in the epee with a 5-6 record, and freshman Kristen Dorf (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Academy) finished sixth in the foil with an 8-3 mark. Sophomore Carly Wells (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) was first in the women's sabre, an exhibition weapon, with an 11-0 record.
Twenty-four individual competitors in both the foil and in the epee will compete in the NCAA Championships. All but two are selected based upon the top numeric finishes in each of four geographic regions. The other two are at-large selections, picked by a committee from among the country's remaining top competitors.
Northwestern fences in the Midwest Region, which receives five spots in both the women's epee and women's foil. By virtue of her No. 4 final numeric seed in the epee, Gaseor virtually assured herself of an NCAA spot. Greenebaum, who finished with a No. 7 numeric rating in the epee, has a realistic chance of earning an at-large bid, as does Dorf, whose low touch count dropped her to a No. 6 finish in the foil despite her having tied for No. 2 in wins. No school may qualify more than two people per weapon. Since the NCAA went to the current championships format in 1990, Northwestern has never qualified three women for the meet in one year.
Following are the records and places for each of NU's competitors in the final round of the Midwest Regionals. The top 12 competitors from among a field of 20 made the final round, fencing 11 bouts in a round robin to determine finishes.
Women's Epee
Meghan Gaseor (7-4) - 5th place
Tara Houseworth (5-6) - 7th place
Jen Greenebaum (4-7) - 8th place
Lynn Zuckerman (4-7) - 9th place
Women's Foil
Kristen Dorf (8-3) - 6th place
Erin Epstein (1-10) - 12th place
Kim Boudreau (DNP) - 13th place
Maggie Kebrdle (DNP) - 15th place
Women's Sabre (Exhibition)
Carly Wells (11-0) - 1st place
Margaret Magnarelli (8-3) - 2nd place
Kate Frambach (6-5) - 4th place
Laurel Scherffius (6-5) - 5th place
Jessica Brower (5-6) - 6th place
Elizabeth Weber (4-7) - 9th place