Irish fencers prepare for life after '99 season
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Associate Sports Editor
For the first time in four years, the Irish fencers without All-Americans Sara Walsh, Myriah Brown, Luke LaValle and Nicole Mustilli on the roster.
Even with the loss of so much talent in the class of 1999, the fencing program has reloaded with the addition of several top recruits and improvement in the returning fencers.
"We did lose some key players but we gained some new freshman that are taking up the slack," senior men's sabre captain Clay Morton said. "The players that were on the team last year are improving and making up for the loss of those players."
The Irish get their first NCAA test this weekend when they travel to New York to take on fencing powers Columbia, Stanford and St. John's. The Irish will also face Vassar, and NYU.
Team cohesion has been stressed in the off season and the team is a tighter unit, according to women's foil captain Magda Krol.
"We have tried to regroup and reorganize and clean out our fencing program to use the talent we have now in a better environment," she said. "I think the team is really together and more understanding of each other."
The men's team returns three NCAA-qualifying fencers from last year and is bolstered by the addition of many strong freshmen.
Once again the men's sabre team is the best in the country. Even with the loss of 1998 national champion LaValle, the team is still very deep. First team All-American Gabor Szelle returns to the strip after a successful freshman year that saw him finish second at the NCAA championship. Szelle is currently ranked 15th among world junior sabremen. With Keith Smart, last year's champion from St. John's, graduated, Szelle is considered a front-runner for the national title.
Fellow sophomore Andre Crompton is strong fencer and is currently ranked 15th in the national senior rankings and eighth among junior sabremen. Hot on his heels in the rankings is freshman Matt Fabricant who is 17th in the senior ranking and 9th in the juniors.
Rounding out the sabre squad is junior Andrzej Bednarski who returns to the team after taking his sophomore year off. Bednarski is currently ranked 19th among senior sabremen in the U.S.
The talent and experience of the sabre team will be relied on by the Irish — especially early in the season when the other, younger squads are still improving.
"We are probably the most well rounded and deepest sabre squad in the country," Morton said. "We will be trying to win every bout in order to give the other squads who aren't as deep a little support. We will be carrying the team a bit but not much."
The sabremen face two tough challenges this weekend in Stanford's David LaValle and Columbia's Patrick Durkan — both qualified for the NCAA tournament last year,
The men's epee team is also talented and experience — returning two NCAA qualifiers in sophomore Brian Casas and senior captain James Gaither.
The addition of freshman Jan Viviani has added competition to the squad as he has defeated many of his teammates in practice.
"He is a real good kid and an awesome fencer," Gaither said, "He is a real asset to the team."
The men's foil squad is the only men's squad without a returning NCAA-qualifier. Last year's NCAA competitors, Stephane Auriol and Chas Hayes, have graduated and left the team, respectively. The squad does return its wins leader from last year in sophomore Steve Mautone The squad is also bolstered by the addition of two stellar freshmen in Forest Walton and Ozren Debic. Walton is ranked 32nd among U.S. juniors while Debic is 183rd in world senior standings,
The women's side is less experienced than the men's but still features some exciting fencers.
Krol, who won an epee national championship as a freshman and earned three All-American letters, has switched from epee to foil to strengthen the team. Although she has fenced foil before coming to Notre Dame, the adjustment to foil has been tough.
"It was hard but I think I have adjusted alright," Krol said. "I have fenced foil for Canada before and last year I was still getting some foil lessons, so it is not like I am starting from scratch. It was mostly a mental adjustment."
As the foil captain, she faces the daunting task of rebuilding a squad that lost two four-time All-Americans in Walsh and Brown and a solid captain in Nicole Paulina. Returning seniors are playing a bigger role this year and freshman Liza Boutsikaris has been especially impressive.
"[Senior] Aimee Kalogera and two senior walk-ons — Kelly Orsi and Liz Dailey — have really stepped up because women's foil has shrunk so much," Krol said. "Even with the addition of Liza, the seniors have definitely stepped up and showed progress."
Boutsikaris is currently ranked 59th among senior foilists and the 17th best American junior.
With Krol switching from epee to foil and the graduation of Mustilli, the women's epee squad is also rebuilding. Two freshmen, Meagan Call and Anna Carnick will probably be the top female epeeists for the Irish this year. Both Call and Carnick are top 30 U.S. junior fencers,
For the first time in NCAA history, women will be competing in sabre. Captain Carianne McCullough leads the Irish team. While most of the squad is made up of walk-ons, freshman Natalia Masur, who is ranked 15th among American junior sabrewomen, brings a lot of experience to the team despite her youth,
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 21, 2000
