Feb. 18, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern concludes the dual-meet portion of its 2009-10 schedule this weekend at Patten Gymnasium, hosting the second installment of the NU Duals. Competition gets underway at 8 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday morning as the Wildcats welcome 12 teams to Evanston.
The Wildcats, who enter the weekend with a 33-4 mark on the year, are looking to reach 40 victories for the first time in program history. Head coach Laurie Schiller's squad will fence six matches both days and will be heavy favorites in all 12 weekend matchups. NU takes on Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Swarthmore, Minnesota and Iowa Saturday morning, then Illinois, Chicago, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue and Lawrence Sunday.
A few Wildcats enter the weekend within striking distance of some career milestones. Senior epeeist Christa French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) recently notched her 300th career victory and needs just nine more to become the program's all-time leader in epée victories. Epée teammate Joanna Niklinska (Granger, Ind./Penn) needs just four victories for her 200th career win. Senior Whitney White (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) needs just one more victory to move into sole possession of seventh-place in program history among sabre victories and nine to move into sixth.
Earlier this week, the second USFCA coaches poll was released and the Wildcats found themselves moving up two spots to third behind top-ranked Notre Dame and second-ranked Penn State. Princeton checks in at number four and Columbia is fifth with St. John's, Ohio State, Temple, Harvard and Penn rounding out the top-10.
This weekend's NU Duals marks the end of the dual-meet schedule for the Wildcats and will be the final tune-up before the Midwest Conference Championships in South Bend, Ind., on March 6 and 7. Northwestern will then host the NCAA Midwest Regionals at the Sports and Aquatic Center (SPAC) on March 13th and 14th, which will serve as the precursor for the NCAA Championships at the end of March.
Northwestern Duals Schedule
Saturday, February 20
Round One - Wisconsin
Round Two - Florida
Round Three - Michigan
Round Four - Swarthmore
Round Five - Minnesota
Round Six - Iowa
Sunday, February 21
Round One - Illinois
Round Two - Chicago
Round Three - Indiana
Round Four - Michigan State
Round Five - Purdue
Round Six - Lawrence
Competition gets underway at 8 a.m. each morning, with each round scheduled to last approximately an hour.