Jan. 31, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern will learn pretty quick if it is as good as the top teams in the country this weekend at the Notre Dame Duals. Among NU's competition are top-ranked Penn State and second-ranked Notre Dame.
The Wildcats fence Air Force bright and early Saturday before squaring off with the No. 1 Nittany Lions at 9:30 a.m. PSU holds a 14-3 series advantage. NU then takes on Cal State-Fullerton before wrapping up day one against No. 2 Notre Dame, which owns a 28-8 series lead. Northwestern knocked off No. 2 Notre Dame 15-12 last year, but lost 23-4 to the same Fighting Irish team a week later.
Northwestern takes on Detroit, Cal-San Diego and Wayne State on Sunday. NU is undefeated against Cal State-Fullerton (8-0) and Cal-San Diego (5-0). Northwestern has won 14 straight matches (dating to 1993) against Wayne State, and it is 27-3 against Detroit.
Lauren Dunn (Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo) is 20-0 in Midwest competition thus far but will no doubt be tested this weekend. She leads a sabre squad that is a combined 110-30 in total bouts and owns an 18-1 mark. It's most recent significant win came against No. 4 Ohio State in last weekend's OSU Duals.
Julia F?ldi (Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istavan Gimnazium) is the 'Cats' leading foilist with a 38-5 record. F?ldi is 120-21 for her career.
Individually, this weekend's field includes 43 fencers (women and men) who have competed in past NCAA Championships, led by 28 who have earned All-America honors. The field also includes three former women's NCAA champions: Penn State ep?eist Jessie Burke (2000 champion), Notre Dame ep?eist Kerry Walton (2002) and Notre Dame foilist Alicja Kryczalo (2002).