Feb. 23, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Junior Sam Nemecek earned a second-place finish in the foil to lead all Northwestern fencers in individual competition at the Midwest Conferences Championships held Saturday. The team competition is scheduled for Sunday at the University of Notre Dame.

Nemecek went a perfect 6-0 in pool play and then won each of her first four matches in bracket play to advance all the way to the championship match. However, she fell just shy of claiming the title, falling to Oksana Dmytruk from Ohio State 15-5.

Also placing in the top for Northwestern in the foil were Natalie Wang who tied for sixth, Meredith Baskies who was eighth, and Irisa Chen who finished 10th.

Sophomore Joanna Niklinska paced a strong Wildcat contingent in the epee by tying for third place. Niklinska won each of her five pool matches and won her first three in bracket play where she advanced to the semifinal round before falling to Ohio State's Kaela Brendler 15-9.

In all, Wildcat fencers earned seven of the top 13 finishes in the epee. Also placing in the top 10 were Kayley French (5th), Sarah Henning (7th) and Megan Ross (10th).

In the sabre, freshman Jill Mahen was NU's top finisher, placing eighth. She was followed closely by Allison Keller who came in ninth and Adrienne Shon who was 11th.