As both individuals and a team, Notre Dame had a successful weekend as the hosts of the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, taking four individual titles and also finishing in first as a team with a total of 1,590 points.
On the women's side, the foils claimed three spots in the top 10. Both junior Adriana Camacho and sophomore Madison Zeiss made the quarterfinals of the foil event. In the epee event, senior EwaNelip won the women's championship in dominating fashion. One of Nelip's wins came against another Irish fencer, sophomore epeeist Nicole Ameli, by a score of 12-6. Nonetheless, Ameli performed well and ended up finishing in 7th place, while fellow sophomore epee Ashley Severson rounded out the top 10 in the event. In the sabre event, freshman Johanna Thill and senior Lian Osier placed first and second, respectively.
The men also had a strong day Saturday in individual competition, as junior foil Ariel DeSmet won the foil event handedly. In the men's epee, three out of four semifinalists came from the Irish side, and freshman Garrett McGrath earned the overall victory, but he had to defeat Irish junior Michael Rossi in order to get there. Additionally, sophomore epee Dale Purdy made it to the semifinals for Notre Dame. In the men's sabre event, the Irish put four fencers in the top 10, including a second place finish from freshman John Hallsten.
As a team, the Irish placed first in the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships and will now look forward to the NCAA regional championships, which will take place next weekend at the Castellan Family Fencing Center.
