March 26, 2010
2010 NCAA Fencing Championships Women's Results
2009-10 Northwestern Fencing Statistics 
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Freshman Dayana Sarkisova (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) capped an impressive debut season with a third-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championships, becoming the first Northwestern foilist to capture first-team All-American honors and the fourth fencer in program history to do so. Northwestern finished eighth at the national championships, marking the 11th-consecutive season head coach Laurie Schiller's squad has finished among the nation's top-10.
Sarkisova posted a 20-3 record through the round robin pool play, earning the number two seed in the semifinals before falling to Penn State's Doris Willette to capture third. It is tied for the highest national finish by a Wildcat, matching Katie Rudkin's third-place result in the epée in 2002. Sarkisova is now part of an elite group, joining Vivian Imaizumi (sabre - 2000) and Rudkin (epée - 2001 and 2002) as the fourth first-team All-American in Northwestern history.
Senior Christa French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) solidified her place in program history as well as the epeeist posted a 13-10 record in her final NCAA Championship, good enough for a 10th-place finish and honorable mention All-American status. French ends her Wildcat career as a four-time All-American (second-team in 2007 and 2009, HM in 2008 and 2010), joining Julia Földi (2002-05) and Sam Nemecek (2006-09) as the third fencer in Northwestern history to be named an All-American four times.
Senior Kayley French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) just missed qualifying for All-American status, finishing 16th in the women's epée with an 8-15 mark at the national championships. Sophomore Devynn Patterson (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) placed 21st in the women's foil with a 7-16 record while freshman Alicia Gurrieri (Medford, N.J./Moorestown Friends) went 5-18 in the women's sabre to place 22nd overall.
With the individual results in the books, Northwestern tallied a total of 53 points (five in sabre, 27 in foil and 21 in epée) to secure the eighth-place finish. The Wildcats finished 11 points back of conference rival Ohio State in seventh, while edging out Temple (38 pts.) and Duke (34 pts.) in the top-10.
With the addition of Sarkisova and French's honors, Schiller has now had 11 different fencers capture 23 All-American honors. It also marks the sixth-straight season that at least two Northwestern fencers have placed among the top-12 nationally.
2010 NCAA Fencing Championships Women's Team Results
1. St. John's - 92 pts.
2. Notre Dame - 91 pts.
3. Penn State - 90 pts.
4. Princeton - 76 pts.
5. Harvard - 75 pts.
6. Columbia - 68 pts.
7. Ohio State - 64 pts.
8. Northwestern - 53 pts.
9. Temple - 38 pts.
10. Duke - 34 pts.