Jan. 22, 2008

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's women's fencing team competed at the USFA North American Cup in Atlanta, Ga., over the weekend. Sophomore Kayley French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) was the Wildcats' top finisher, placing fifth out of 138 competitors in the epée.

Sam Nemecek (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) earned Northwestern's top finish in the foil, coming in 27th. Lisa Sachs (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) also particpated in the event, placing 97th.

Joanna Niklinska (Granger, Ind./Penn) had the Wildcats' next-best result, coming in 33rd in the epée. Also competing in the epée were Christa French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) who was 75th, Nicole Tilley (Chandler, Ariz./Corona) who came in 91st, Megan Ross (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel Area) who finished 121st and Sarah Henning (New Berlin, Wis./Waukesha Catholic Memorial) who placed 130th.

Gina Annunziato (Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards) was Northwestern's lone competitor in the sabre, finishing 85th.

Additionally, Northwestern was recently ranked No. 6 in the country in the first USFCA Coaches' Poll. Notre Dame is the nation's top-ranked women's team, with the remainder of the top five consisting of Ohio State, Columbia-Barnard, Penn State and Harvard.

Following the Wildcats, rounding out the top 10 are St. John's, Penn, Temple and Princeton.

Northwestern returns to action at the NYU Duals this Saturday.