Temple University Athletics
Thursday, March 25
Madison, NJ
all day
Temple University
at
NCAA Championships
Senior Kristin Howell
Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Women’s Fencing Takes Aim At NCAA Championships
3.23.10 | Women's Fencing
Parker, Howell, Thompson, and Varadi set to compete
Schedule of Events | Live Results
PHILADELPHIA – Four members of the Temple fencing team will take part in the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championships this weekend at Harvard University's Gordon Track Center in Boston, Mass. The event gets underway Thursday, March 25 and runs through Sunday, March 28.
The Temple women will compete on Thursday and Friday, while the men's events will run Saturday and Sunday. The Owls qualified four of the possible six fencers for the Championships, as a maximum of two fencers per weapon are permitted.
“We are very excited about returning to the NCAA Championships again this year,” said Hall of Fame head coach Nikki Franke. “It is something we have come to expect but it is also something that is never guaranteed. The girls have worked hard and are definitely ready for the competition. We are expecting good things to happen.”
Representing Temple at the NCAA Championships in foil is senior Melissa Parker (36-16). A four-time qualifier for the Championships, Parker placed as high as seventh in her first three appearances (2008) and placed 10th last season. She has been named to the All-America team each of the past three years, earning Honorable Mention in 2009.
In epee, Kristin Howell (14-6) returns to the Big Dance for the third-straight year. Howell has earned back-to-back All-America Honorable Mention honors, placing 10th at last seasons Championships.
“We have an experienced group competing this year with two seniors in Kristin and Melissa,” commented Franke. “They have been there several times in the past, both have earned All-American honors and they know what it takes to compete and do well against the top collegiate fencers in the country. Their knowledge and experience will no doubt help our underclassmen that qualified.”
Sophomore Kamali Thompson (31-12) has been selected to the Championships for the second consecutive year. Placing 16th in her debut in sabre last season, Thompson recently led the Owls' with a seventh place finish at Regionals.
Making her Championship debut, freshman Mikayla Varadi will be Temple's second representative in foil. Posting a 30-11 record in what has been a stellar freshman campaign, Varadi led TU with a second place finish in foil at Regionals.
Last season, the Owls placed eighth and posted 49 wins, their best overall result since 2001 (52 wins, 7th place). The team, currently ranked ninth in the latest USFCA Fencing Poll, is looking to further both of those marks.
The National Collegiate Men's and Women's Fencing Championships include individual events in each of the six weapons (women's foil, women's epee, women's sabre, men's foil, men's epee, men's sabre).
Fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four fencers fence semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the losers being awarded a tie for third place. Absolute ties for the seeding will be broken as follows: for positions one through three, by a coin toss; for position four, by a fence-off.
An institution's place finish in the championships will be based on points earned by each individual. A team will be awarded one point for each victory by its student-athletes for the duration of the championships.
Final USFCA College Fencing Coaches' Poll
Women
1. Notre Dame (1)
2. Penn State (2)
3. Princeton
4. Northwestern
5. St. John's (NY)
6. Ohio State
7. Columbia-Barnard
8. Harvard
9. Temple
10. Pennsylvania
Others receiving votes -- Duke, Yale, North Carolina, Cornell. Brandeis, UC-San Diego, Brown, Stanford, Air Force, NYU, Boston College
PHILADELPHIA – Four members of the Temple fencing team will take part in the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championships this weekend at Harvard University's Gordon Track Center in Boston, Mass. The event gets underway Thursday, March 25 and runs through Sunday, March 28.
The Temple women will compete on Thursday and Friday, while the men's events will run Saturday and Sunday. The Owls qualified four of the possible six fencers for the Championships, as a maximum of two fencers per weapon are permitted.
“We are very excited about returning to the NCAA Championships again this year,” said Hall of Fame head coach Nikki Franke. “It is something we have come to expect but it is also something that is never guaranteed. The girls have worked hard and are definitely ready for the competition. We are expecting good things to happen.”
Representing Temple at the NCAA Championships in foil is senior Melissa Parker (36-16). A four-time qualifier for the Championships, Parker placed as high as seventh in her first three appearances (2008) and placed 10th last season. She has been named to the All-America team each of the past three years, earning Honorable Mention in 2009.
In epee, Kristin Howell (14-6) returns to the Big Dance for the third-straight year. Howell has earned back-to-back All-America Honorable Mention honors, placing 10th at last seasons Championships.
“We have an experienced group competing this year with two seniors in Kristin and Melissa,” commented Franke. “They have been there several times in the past, both have earned All-American honors and they know what it takes to compete and do well against the top collegiate fencers in the country. Their knowledge and experience will no doubt help our underclassmen that qualified.”
Sophomore Kamali Thompson (31-12) has been selected to the Championships for the second consecutive year. Placing 16th in her debut in sabre last season, Thompson recently led the Owls' with a seventh place finish at Regionals.
Making her Championship debut, freshman Mikayla Varadi will be Temple's second representative in foil. Posting a 30-11 record in what has been a stellar freshman campaign, Varadi led TU with a second place finish in foil at Regionals.
Last season, the Owls placed eighth and posted 49 wins, their best overall result since 2001 (52 wins, 7th place). The team, currently ranked ninth in the latest USFCA Fencing Poll, is looking to further both of those marks.
The National Collegiate Men's and Women's Fencing Championships include individual events in each of the six weapons (women's foil, women's epee, women's sabre, men's foil, men's epee, men's sabre).
Fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four fencers fence semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the losers being awarded a tie for third place. Absolute ties for the seeding will be broken as follows: for positions one through three, by a coin toss; for position four, by a fence-off.
An institution's place finish in the championships will be based on points earned by each individual. A team will be awarded one point for each victory by its student-athletes for the duration of the championships.
Final USFCA College Fencing Coaches' Poll
Women
1. Notre Dame (1)
2. Penn State (2)
3. Princeton
4. Northwestern
5. St. John's (NY)
6. Ohio State
7. Columbia-Barnard
8. Harvard
9. Temple
10. Pennsylvania
Others receiving votes -- Duke, Yale, North Carolina, Cornell. Brandeis, UC-San Diego, Brown, Stanford, Air Force, NYU, Boston College
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