March 22, 2004
Northwestern game notes for NCAA Championships
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EVANSTON, Ill.--Northwestern's fencing team will see its season come to a close this week when five of its own compete in the NCAA Championships, held March 25-28 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.
Foilists Julia F?ldi (Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istavan Gimnazium) and Jessica Florendo (Forest Hills, N.Y./The Dwight School), sabreists Lauren Van Gieson (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) and Mai Vu (New York, N.Y./Bronx Science), and epeeist Sharon Sullivan (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) will fence Thursday and Friday in the women's portion of the tournament.
"I think all five have an excellent chance at making All-America status (top-12 finish)," said head coach Laurie Schiller, whose squad took eighth in the women's division in 2003.
F?ldi, a junior, and Sullivan, a sophomore, also earned berths to last year's Championships. The former paced the 'Cats with 15 wins and a 10th-place finish, while the latter notched 11 wins and a 14th-place finish.
"It is very helpful to Julia and Sharon to have competed in the tournament before, because they know what to expect and how to pace themselves," said Schiller. "But we ran our (Midwest Regional Championships) in a similar manner to how the NCAA Championships is run, so the others will be somewhat experienced in this competition."
Although Sullivan is the lone NU representative in her weapon, F?ldi will be joined by newcomer Florendo, who has had a strong start to her collegiate fencing career. Last week, her second-place performance was the best for Northwestern at the Midwest Regional Championships.
Van Gieson and Vu round out the Wildcat quintet. Van Gieson, a junior, was the first alternate at last year's Championships, so this will be her and freshman Vu's premier competition.
Rounds 1-4 will take place on Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m. (CT). The next day will see Rounds 5-7, also starting at 10 a.m., while the gold-medal bouts are slated for a 2:30 p.m. start.
A brief season recap of each Wildcat follows:
Foil--Julia F?ldi (Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istavan Gimnazium), Junior, 100-9 dual record: F?ldi notched her second-straight 100-win season, and her record was best for all NU fencers. In addition to winning the USFA Burton Open, she was able to rake in third at the Midwest Conference Championships.
Foil--Jessica Florendo (Forest Hills, N.Y./The Dwight School), Freshman, 84-13 dual record: Florendo's 84 wins were the second most on the team. Amongst her many victories, she beat two-time defending NCAA Champion Alicja Kryczalo of Notre Dame twice (NU Duals and Midwest Regional Championships).
Sabre--Lauren Van Gieson (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley), Junior, 61-25 dual record: Van Gieson paced her squad all season, including a bronze-medal performance at the Midwest Conference Championships. She also placed in several other tournaments, including fifth at the USFA Burton Open.
Sabre--Mai Vu (New York, N.Y./Bronx Science), Freshman, 43-21 dual record: Vu jumped to a great start to her career, winning the Big Ten Club Championships in early October. At the Junior Olympic Championships, she took 25th.
Epee--Sharon Sullivan (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport), Sophomore, 64-20 dual record: Sullivan's 64 wins were the most for NU epeeists. She placed second in back-to-back tournaments in the fall, and she finished in the top-10 in back-to-back events in the spring.