4/4/07 - Junior World Championships - Belek, Turkey
Team member Kelley Hurley has been selected to compete for the United States this April 10-18 in the Junior World Championships held in Turkey. Check the results page soon for placements in team and individual events.

3/28/07 - March Fencers of the Month
The fencing team's coaching staff has selected one men's and one women's team fencer of the month for March. On the men's side, sabreist Bill Thanhouser is the fencer of the month. Thanhouser finished the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships in 5th place, the Regional NCAA Fencing Qualifiers in 3rd, and the NCAA National Championships in 6th place. On the women's side, epeeist Kelley Hurley is the fencer of the month. Hurley finished the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships in 1st place, the Regional NCAA Fencing Qualifiers in 1st, and the NCAA National Championships in 2nd place to win the silver medal. Congratulations to the March fencers of the month.

3/25/07 - 2007 NCAA Fencing National Championships - Madison, NJ
The fencing team has placed fourth at the national championships. In addition, Patrick Ghattas and Kelley Hurley each claimed the silver medal in their respective weapons, men's sabre and women's epee individual national championships. Along with Hurley and Ghattas, Jakub Jedrkowiak, Mark Kubik, Greg Howard, Karol Kostka, Bill Thanhouser, Valerie Providenza, and Adi Nott finished as All Americans. For a full recap visit the official athletic site.

3/20/07 - 2007 NCAA Fencing National Championships - Madison, NJ
The fencing team will be competing this Thursday through Sunday in the NCAA Championships held at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. All ND fencing alumni and fans, come to New Jersey and support the team! See the schedule for details and check back here for reports from the trip. For full daily recaps visit the official athletic site.

3/11/07 - 2007 NCAA Championships Notre Dame Fencers
In Men's Epee, Karol Kostka and Greg Howard are the qualifiers from Notre Dame. In Men's Foil, Mark Kubik and Jakub Jedrkowiak are the qualifiers. In Men's Sabre, Patrick Ghattas and Bill Thanhouser are the qualifiers. In Women's Epee, Kelley Hurley is the qualifier. In Women's Foil, Adi Nott and Emilie Prot are the qualifiers. In Women's Sabre, Ashley Serrette and Valerie Providenza are the qualifiers.

3/9/07 - Regional NCAA Fencing Qualifiers - Notre Dame, IN
The fencing team will be competing this Saturday in the NCAA Championships regional qualifier held at in the JACC. ND fencing alumni and fans, visit the campus and support the team! Check the 2007 Regional NCAA Fencing Qualifiers website continuously throughout the weekend for complete live scores updated every minute. Also see the schedule for details.

3/2/07 - Midwest Fencing Conference Championships - Notre Dame, IN
The fencing team will be competing this weekend in both individual and team events for the conference championships held in the JACC. ND fencing alumni and fans, visit the campus and support the team! Check the 2007 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships website continuously throughout the weekend for complete live scores updated every minute. Also see the schedule for details.

3/1/07 - ND Athletics Irish Alert Updates
Notre Dame now offers a free text-message update service (Irish ALERT) for its varsity athletic teams. This will be making its debut with ND fencing throughout the 2007 postseason (Midwest Championships, NCAA Qualifiers, and NCAAs) and will include several updates sent each day of competition (from the NCAAs, probably every hour - similar to what has been done in the past for the ND Sports Hotline, which received more than 600 calls over the four days last year). The text messages are a free signup and other ND sports can be signed up for as well. The link is as follows: http://my.textcaster.com/ServePopup.aspx?id=535

2/26/07 - February Fencers of the Month
The fencing team's coaching staff has selected one men's and one women's team fencer of the month for February. On the men's side, foilist Frank Bontempo is the fencer of the month. Bontempo finished the Duke Duals with a squad best 9-1 mark on the weekend, and also finished the Northwestern Duals with a squad best 10-2 record on the weekend. On the women's side, foilist Adi Nott is the fencer of the month. Nott finished the Duke Duals with an undefeated 10-0 record, and completed the Northwestern Duals with a squad best 17-2 mark on the weekend. In addition, Nott finished in 2nd place to earn the silver medal at the USFA's Junior Olympic Championships in Denver. Congratualtions to the February fencers of the month, and check back in March for the next set of winners.

2/23/07 - Northwestern University Duals - Evanston, IL
The fencing team will be competing this weekend in its final dual meet of the year at Northwestern. ND fencing alumni and fans in the Chicago area, come support the team! See the schedule for details.

2/16/07 - Junior Olympic Championships - Denver, CO
Members of the team will be competing this weekend in the USFA's Junior Olympic Championships in Colorado. ND fencing alumni and fans in the Denver area, come support the team! See the schedule for details.

2/9/07 - Duke UniversityDuals - Durham, NC
Courtesy of Dave Stabrawa:

You know, everything about this trip has been delayed, so why not this, too?

So anyway, on Thursday, the men's team left for O'Hare on a small jet. The trip was uneventful, and we scattered to grab lunch, snacks, or relax as we sat through a two-hour layover until our flight from Chicago to Raleigh-Durham.

The plane arrives late, but not too late, and we board. We begin to taxi away from the gate, and the fun begins. The pilot announces that a sensor has indicated a problem with the landing gear, and we have to taxi back to the gate for an inspection. The crew comes out, and determines that a tire has to be replaced. We have to de-plane (don't you just love that word?) and wait for what they promise will be no later than an hour. Right. Turns out that two tires have to be replaced. Each tire has approximately sixty screws, nuts, and bolts, along with the electronic sensor wiring and such. One hour turned into three. We stood outside a bar watching the basketball team lose in the last seconds to DePaul. We sat by the drafty window as the sun moved across the sky and day turned into night. FINALLY, the repairs were made and we took off.

We arrive at Raleigh-Durham at midnight. Fortunately, the rent-a-car office is still open, and we are able to pick up the minivans and GPS devices. Thanks to the latter, the trip to the hotel comes off without a hitch. We finally hit the pillow at 1:30 AM, with a 7 AM wakeup call awaiting us.

Our gallows humor had us wondering if we would get to the hotel before the women left for Duke. As it turned out, we beat them by a whopping three hours. Yes, the women were at the gym at 4:15 to get to a 6 AM flight to O'Hare. And if you think that flight left at 6, boy, were you mistaken!

Seems that the airline did not do the required security pre-check the night before, so they had to do it before takeoff. And when one considers that the women's layover at O'Hare was all of 45 minutes, disaster was assured right out of the gate. Once they got to Chicago, Emma performed stellar work to get the team to Duke in a reasonable time. It consisted of having four people (and all the luggage) leave first, and arrive at 2:30 or so, The rest of the team got to Duke via Dulles, and arrived at 5:45. So, as Colleen pointed out a bit wistfully, the women will spend less than 24 hours in North Carolina. At least it is not 65 degrees and sunny this time around (it is about 45-50 degrees and a bit overcast).

Dinner tonight was a great one, at Sal's Pizza and Restaurant. Hijinks and low humor were abundant, as was the birthday brownie ordered by the team for Gia. It's very tough for him to have his family still in Kansas (they'll arrive in South Bend to stay in a week or so), but he is drawing on the strength and affection of his new charges to keep things going.

Tomorrow will be a long day, but once we're in the air heading to Chicago, it SHOULD be downhill. I'm honestly looking forward to a nice two-hour bus ride to decompress.

2/8/07 - Duke University Duals - Durham, NC
The fencing team will be competing this weekend in its fourth dual meet of the year at Duke. ND fencing alumni and fans in the Raleigh-Durham area, come support the team! See the schedule for details and check back here for reports from the trip.

2/2/07 - Midwest Duals - Notre Dame, IN
The fencing team will be competing this weekend in its third dual meet of the year, in the Langford Fencing Gymaniusm. ND fencing alumni and fans, visit the campus and support the team! See the schedule for details.

1/27/07 - New York University Duals - New York, NY
Courtesy of Dave Stabrawa:

Greetings all. Hope the morning finds you well. Sorry this is late, but last night, the hotel wireless connection bombed out, and sleep was more important than e-mailing. We all had interesting days.

The morning and afternoon were free. Most of us slept in late. Me, I went on my annual walking tour of the city, enjoying the day and going wherever serendipity took me. Others went shopping (most everyone), sightseeing (Ryan and Colleen went to the Statue of Liberty), or sampling the local cuisine (pizza, pizza, and more pizza “ the slice Chris had could feed a family of three living in a lean-to in Jakarta.

At 3:30, we headed over the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most of us went in a large group via the subway. On the walk over, Kelley discovered, much to her dismay, that her shoes were not quite appropriate for the walking she was in for. To wit, her feet hurt. A lot.

The museum was its usual excellent diversion. The special exhibit, Americans in Paris (the American artists who moved to Paris in the 19th century to absorb the lessons of the French Impressionists) was closing after tomorrow, and it was worth seeing. Aside from the other stuff, which couldn't be compressed into the two hours we had allotted for our visit. Joining us at the Met was 2003 sabre All-American Matt Fabricant. Always nice to see Fabs.

We then moved, via taxis, to Hop Lee, a small but superb Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown. It is supposedly the safest place to be in Chinatown after 4 AM on account of all the police who eat there. The various police department patches on the wall gave testament to this. The food was plentiful, and tremendous. Thanks to the Notre Dame Club of New York for their treat.

Here's where the fun really began. On the way to the subway station, Patrick Ghattas and Aaron Adjemian were entranced by tiny turtles for sale in a Chinatown souvenir store. So they each bought one. Pat has named his Bap. Aaron hasn't named his as I write this, and based on their complete lack of knowledge as to the care and feeding of turtles, may name his before it dies. We truly hope that he gives it a name that won't cause all the other turtles to make fun of him on the playground.

As bad as the pain was for Kelley and her feet at the museum, the TWELVE BLOCK walk from the restaurant to the subway was the last straw. Chris (either acting as a gentleman and scholar, or a complete fool), offered to carry Kelley on his back to the subway. She eagerly accepted. Chris made it ten blocks before his legs gave out. Kelley is eternally grateful, Chris will spend tomorrow recovering, and the rest of us will have a lifetime of amusement from the events.

And we thought the fun was over once we got to the subway. Little did we know that we be treated to an episode of Subway Theatre, starring Stark Raving Crazy Man. Stark Raving Crazy Man was going on and on and on with his noxious theories on immigration and birth rates. Bad enough generally speaking, it was even worse when performed in a subway crammed with enough people to make the notorious Tokyo subway seem almost deserted. But we were able to escape, and all was well.

We then proceeded for late-night cheesecake, coffee, or an early start to sleep. Meeting us at hotel were alums Dave Tyler, Michelle Sutton, and Matt Castellan, all of whose loyalty is greatly appreciated.

That's about it for now. I'm really tired and am about to turn into a pumpkin. We start at 8 AM Sunday against Yale, followed by Columbia, NYU, St. John's, and Stevens Tech (for the men) and Northwestern (for the women). A match against Ohio State may or may not take place.

1/26/07 - New York University Duals - New York, NY
Courtesy of Dave Stabrawa:

Some Time in New York City

Our trip was relatively uneventful. No one was late, and we made pretty good time. We hit a snowstorm around Youngstown, which stayed with us through central Pennsylvania. The snow wasn't too heavy, but it was cold and very windy. The mountain roads were slippery, and there were a few cars in the ditch, but Dave, our bus driver from Royal Excursion, was his usual careful and skillful self, and we sailed through unimpaired.

1/25/07 - New York University Duals - New York, NY
The fencing team will be competing this weekend in its second dual meet of the year at NYU. ND fencing alumni and fans in the New York City/Northern New Jersey area, come support the team! See the schedule for details and check back here for reports from the trip.

1/19/07 - Notre Dame Duals - Notre Dame, IN
The fencing team will be competing this weekend in its annual home dual meet in the JACC. ND fencing alumni and fans, visit the campus and support the team! Check the official 2007 Notre Dame Duals website continuously throughout the weekend for complete live scores updated every minute. Also see the schedule for details.

1/11/07 - North American Cup - Columbus, OH
Members of the team will be competing this weekend in the USFA's North American Cup in Ohio. ND fencing alumni and fans in the Columbus area, come support the team! See the schedule for details.

1/8/07 - Notre Dame Duals Schedule Posted
The schedule for the 2007 Notre Dame Duals has been posted. The meet will be held on Saturday, January 20 (Women) and Sunday, January 21 (Men) in the Joyce Center at Notre Dame. See the official ND Duals website for complete information on times for each matchup throughout the weekend.

1/5/07 - Notre Dame Fencing Featured on NPR Radio
The Notre Dame fencing program will featured on the award winning NPR radio program "Only A Game" this weekend. The one hour show can be heard live nationwide on 137 different NPR affiliates, as well as streamed online and available on podcast. For full information and links to listen to the show online, visit the official athletic site.

12/21/06 - Interview with Assistant Coach Gia Kvaratskhelia
Gia Kvaratskhelia has joined the Notre Dame fencing team as an assistant coach, specializing in foil. Recently, a "Getting to Know" question-and-answer with Kvaratskhelia was conducted and is available on the official athletic site.

12/7/06 - North American Cup - Richmond, VA
Members of the team will be competing this weekend in the USFA's North American Cup in Virginia. ND fencing alumni and fans in the Richmond area, come support the team! See the schedule for details.

11/15/06 - 2006-2007 Schedule Posted
The finalized 2006-2007 schedule for the Notre Dame men's and women's fencing teams has been posted. See the schedule page for complete information on the team's tournament dates, times, opponents, and locations.

11/9/06 - North American Cup - Albuquerque, NM
Members of the team will be competing this weekend in the USFA's North American Cup in Albuquerque. ND fencing alumni and fans in the New Mexico area, come support the team! See the schedule for details.

11/3/06 - Penn St. Max Garret Open - State College, PA
The fencing team will be competing this weekend in the Max Garret Open at Penn State University. ND fencing alumni and fans in the State College area, come support the team! See the schedule for details.

10/24/06 - Pan American Championships - Valencia, Venezuela
Team members Mariel Zagunis and Kelley Hurley have been selected for the United States team to compete at the Pan American Championships in Venezuela. Check the results page soon for their placement.

9/28/06 - FIE World Championships - Turin, Italy
Team members Mariel Zagunis and Kelley Hurley will be competing in October for the United States at the World Championships in Italy. Check the results page soon for their placement.

8/1/06 - Zagunis Wins 2006 World Cup Trophy
Mariel Zagunis finished the 2006 season in first place for FIE women's sabre World Cup rankings. Zagunis will receive the World Cup trophy in Turin, Italy, at the 2006 FIE Fencing World Championships. For the full story visit the official athletic site.

7/1/06 - USFA Division I/Summer National Championships - Atlanta, GA
Members of the team will be competing this weekend in the United States Fencing Association Division I/Summer National Championships in Atlanta. ND fencing alumni and fans in the Georgia area, come support the team! See the schedule for details.

6/30/06 - Bednarski Signs Contract Extension
Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White has signed head fencing coach Janusz Bednarski to a multi-year contract to continue as head coach of the Irish men's and women's fencing programs. For the full story visit the official athletic site.

6/1/06 - Bednarski Awarded Honorary Monogram
Head fencing coach Janusz Bednarski was presented with an honorary monogram from athletic director Kevin White at the Notre Dame Monogram Club's annual summer party, due to his exceptional service to the university. For the full story visit the official athletic site.