Irish stumble to third at National Championships
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Sports Writer
KENOSHA, Wisc.
For the seventh straight year, the Notre Dame fencers left the NCAA Championships disappointed at what might have been and hoping to redeem themselves next year. The 2001 Championships added a bit of a twist the story, however. Rather than taking home a second place trophy for the sixth consecutive year, the Irish walked away with bronze as St. John's won the national title and Penn State slipped to second after winning the last six titles.
"As a team, I know we could have done better," sophomore Anna Carnick said. "The confidence and lack thereof play a key role in how we did. I was disappointed but if you can be in the top three, that's pretty good."
The Irish stood in second place after the men's competition on the first two days but slipped to third behind Penn State after a weak showing by the women's team.
"I think the men did up to their potential," foil captain Ozren Debic said. "We were 12 behind St. John's which was expected but the first day of the women's even was tough for the girls. They lacked confidence and aggression. I guess there was pressure being here for the first time or knowing that it was up to them and that made it tough for them."
The men's sabre and epee squads finished second overall while the men's foil squad tied for third. On the women's side the epee squad finished second but sabre took fifth and foil finished tied for eighth.
"I am a little disappointed with women's sabre and foil," head coach Yves Auriol said. "They did not perform as well as I hoped."
The women's foil and sabre squads were the only squads with freshmen fencing for the Irish. Destanie Milo and Maggie Jordan both struggled in their first NCAA Championships. Each won only eight out of 23 bouts and each finished 17th.
Milo said she wasn't prepared for the extra pressure that team fencing creates.
"I am not used to having a team," the sabrewoman said. "Just doing individual national competitions, it was just me and my coach but here there are 20 or 40 people cheering for you and against you."
Jordan said she wasn't ready to fence every bout hard from the very beginning.
"I learned it was really tough from the get-go," the foilist said. "You don't have any practice bouts to warm you up. You have to be ready on the spot. On the first day, I was really nervous and really shaky."
Nerves also got to sophomore foilist Liza Boutsikaris. The 2000 All-American struggled over both days of competition and finished 16th with only eight wins.
"That wasn't Liza fencing out there," Auriol said. "She got nervous and she couldn't take the pressure."
Boutsikaris said knowing how much every but matters at the NCAAs made this year's competition even tougher.
"I was just talking myself into thinking I wasn't going to win and then not trying my best," the foil captain said.
Although sabrewoman Cari McCullough did not earn All-American honors for the second year in a row, the senior did improve on her record from last year. She won 10 bouts this year compared to last year when she won nine. McCullough was still disappointed in her performance.
"I think I got frustrated with myself and some of the calls and I let it effect my fencing," she said. "I shouldn't have let that happen."
The two women's epeeists, however, earned All-American honors for second consecutive year. Carnick repeated as a third team All-American while Meagan Call took home second team All-American honors.
Although only two women were named All-Americans, all six men won All-American honors for the first time in Notre Dame history.
Sophomore Jan Viviani led the men with a third place finish in epee for the second straight year. Viviani became the 14th Irish male fencer to be named a first team All-American twice.
Ozren Debic, Brian Casas and Andre Crompton took home second team honors in foil, epee and sabre, respectively. Sabreman Andrzej Bednarski and foilist Forest Walton were each named third team All-Americans. It was the third time Bednarski has won All-American honors while Walton won for the first time after just missing out in 2000.
"It feels great. It's what I wanted to do for quite some time," Walton said. "My family is proud. My team is proud. I think I was like the only one who missed it last year so it feels great this year."
All Sports Stories for Monday, March 26, 2001
