Notre Dame leads in NCAA Championships

. March 26, 2004

{mosimage}Defending national champion University of Notre Dame holds a slim four-point edge over Ohio State at the end of day one of competition at the 2004 NCAA National Collegiate Fencing Championships held at Brandeis University’s Gosman Athletic Center.

Notre Dame scored 63 points in the first day of competition, while Ohio State stood at 59 points. Penn State was in third place with 48 points and Pennsylvania had 43 points, good for fourth place.

The Fighting Irish were led by junior foilist Alicja Kryczalo. The two-time defending champion in the foil posted a 13-1 bout record to move to the top of the standings. Ohio State junior Hanna Thompson was second with a 12-2 mark.

In the women’s sabre competition, three fencers were tied with 13 victories after day one. Columbia University sophomore Emma Baratta was atop the standings with a 13-0 record, while Ohio State junior Louise Bond-Williams and Notre Dame rookie Valerie Providenza were just behind with a 13-1 record. Baratta fenced one fewer bout during the day because of an injury to St. John’s University fencer Julia Gelman.

Wayne State University sophomore Anna Garina led was the top epee fencer on the first day, going 13-1 with her one loss coming by a 5-4 margin to Cornell’s Meghan Phair. Notre Dame senior Kerry Walton sat in second place at 12-2.

Brandeis University senior Jessica Lewis-Turner, a senior epeeist, was in 13th place with a 7-6 record after day one. She helped the Judges to a tie for 18th place overall. Harvard was tops among New England institutions with 25 points. Brown was second with nine, followed by Brandeis and Tufts with seven.

Competition resumes at the Gosman Center on Friday morning at 10 a.m. The women’s individual championship bouts are scheduled for 2 p.m. The men’s competition begins Saturday at noon.

Current Team Standings


Place		School	Total	MS	MF	ME	WS	WF	WE
1.		Notre Dame	63				18	24	21
2.		Ohio State University	59				20	21	18
3.		Pennsylvania State University	48				16	17	15
4.		Pennsylvania, University of	43				19	12	12
5.		Columbia/Barnard	38				20	13	5
6.		Northwestern University	31				11	15	5
7.		Princeton University	29				7	15	7
8.		St. John’s University	25				13	12
9.		Harvard University	20				3	10	7
10.		Duke University	18				8		10
11.	T	Temple University	16				6	5	5
11.	T	Wayne State University	16						16
13.		Yale University	15					6	9
14.		Cornell University	14				5		9
15.		Stanford University	11					11
16.		Cal State, Fullerton	10				6	4
17.		Brown University	9						9
18.	T	Brandeis University	7						7
18.	T	Tufts University	7				7
20.		M.I.T.	5					2	3
21.	T	Haverford College	4				4
21.	T	U.S. Air Force Academy	4				0		4
21.	T	UNC, Chapel Hill	4						4
24.		Cal Tech	2						2
25.		Sacred Heart University	1					1