March 26, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern lost six starters from last season, but that was about all the 2003 fencing team lost. NU started three freshmen-all of whom made the NCAA Championships- and five sophomores, as it went 27-6 overall and 16-1 in the Midwest Collegiate Conference. Clearly, it was the same old song for head coach Laurie Schiller and his team.
To Schiller's delight, his three heralded recruits-Emily Pasternak (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier), Sharon Sullivan (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) and Christina Wang (Milpitas, Calif./Castilleja)-stepped in without missing a beat. Pasternak put together the best sabre mark (88-31) on the team. She also went 26-4 in Midwest competition and placed 20th at the NCAA Championships. Sullivan joined an ep?e squad that returned zero starters from 2002 and provided instant leadership. Sullivan's 96-34 record was the best on the squad and the second best on the entire team. She placed 14th at the NCAA Championships. Wang completed the freshmen trio, recording an 89-44 foil mark. Wang also placed 20th at the NCAAs.
Sophomore Julia F?ldi (Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istavan Gimnazium) repeated her strong performance from her first year. F?ldi put together a team-best 109-23 record, which included a 34-6 regular season mark against conference foes. She went 14-1 at the Midwest Conference Championships en route to a third-place finish. She continued that success at the Midwest Regionals, registering an 11-5 record. Her 15-8 record at the NCAA Championships earned her 10th place and honorable mention All-America honors. It was the second straight year F?ldi garnered All-America accolades (she earned second-team honors in 2002).
Lauren Van Gieson (Wayne, N.Y./Wayne Valley), F?ldi's classmate, improved on her solid freshman campaign. Van Gieson, who missed the last part of 2002 with a torn ACL, returned with a vengeance and posted a 76-32 overall record. Her 13-4 mark at the conference championships earned her second place. She was later recognized by the NCAA as an alternate for the 2003 championships.
NU started the season at home, as it hosted the NU Duals on Nov. 16. The 'Cats were 4-0 after the first weekend and headed to the Princeton Duals. NU took the first two duals against New York University and North Carolina, but suffered its first loss of the season to host Princeton. The Wildcats hosted the second NU Duals on Jan. 11-12, winning five of six and running their record to 11-2. NU's only loss came at the hands of Temple, which also gave the sabre squad its first loss of the season.
NU won five of six at the Ohio State Duals. The 'Cats easily disposed of Case Western Reserve and Florida before a showdown with No. 4 Ohio State. Though the Buckeyes prevailed 16-11, the Wildcat sabreists earned a 5-4 win. NU made the short trek to South Bend, Ind. for the Notre Dame Duals on Feb. 1-2, where it went 5-2. Top-ranked Penn State and second-ranked Notre Dame took down NU, but the Wildcats still improved their record to 21-5. NU's only other loss of the season came against sixth-ranked Columbia on Feb. 8 at the Columbia Duals.
NU joined 11 teams March 8-9 at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships. The 'Cats went par for the course, easily defeating those teams ranked below them and coming up just short against No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 3 Ohio State (the teams were tied for third in the nation in the final poll). As it had all season, NU's sabre squad led the way with its second-place finish. The foil and ep?e squads each took third.
A number of fencers earned increased playing time in comparison to years past. Sophomore Kelsey Nencheck (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) assumed a starting role on the ep?e squad. She posted a 69-44 record for the second most wins on the squad. Nencheck also went 29-11 in Midwest competition and earned eighth place at the conference championships. Junior Melissa Dattalo (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South) also earned a starting position as a foilist. Her 40-41 record gave her the third most foil wins on the team.
Pin Chen (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge), Katie Hoemann (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge), Kate Rigot (Martinez, Ga./Lakeside) and Haina Shin (Merrimack, N.J.) had career years. Chen, a senior, posted 20 wins, nine more than she had for her entire career prior to 2003. Hoemann earned a spot in the ep?e rotation and recorded 26 wins, 21 more than last season, and Rigot and Shin had more wins this season than total bouts they had fenced in their entire careers.
Sophomore Lauren Dunn (Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo) continued her stellar performance, following a strong freshman campaign. Dunn went 72-30 on the season, including a team-best 36-2 in conference competition. A second-team All-American in 2002, Dunn began 2003 with 20 consecutive wins against Midwest opponents. She just missed making the NCAA Championships, placing ninth at the Midwest Regionals.
Dunn and the rest of the sabre squad garnered the team's best winning percentage of the season with a .703 mark. The sabre squad also did not field a fencer with a losing season or career record.
Dunn, Van Gieson and Pasternak are quickly moving up the all-time sabre wins list. Dunn is fourth with 144 (five behind Jessica Brower's 149 for third place), Van Gieson is fifth with 126 and Pasternak is seventh with 88. With 191 wins in her first two seasons, F?ldi is 12th on the all-time foil list. Sullivan checks in at 10th on the ep?e list, while Nencheck is 13th.
Sure, NU's record keepers will have to be up to the task come next season. And with two or more years of eligibility left for the majority of Schiller's fencers, the collegiate fencing nation will have to take note, as well.