CF360 FENCERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE (2009-12 seasons)
Notre Dame Veteran Epeeist Courtney Hurley and St. John's Sabre Standout Sean Buckley
Named CF360 National Fencers of the Week; nine others among Primetime Performers …
Columbia foilist Jackie Dubrovich tabbed for Rookie of the Week.
RELEASE: Jan. 30, 2013 CONTACT: Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)
Notre Dame senior women's epeeist Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) and St. John's senior saber standout Sean Buckley (Seacuscus, N.TY.) have been named national fencers of the week for Jan. 21-27, 2013, as presented by CollegeFencing360.com (CF360). Buckley and Hurley lead the way among the 11 CF360 Primetime Performers of the Week for college fencing. Columbia women's foilist Jackie Dubovich (Riverdale, N.J.) has been selected by CF360 as the national rookie of the week.
Notre Dame epeeist Courtney Hurley (right) – the 2011
NCAA champion and member of the U.S. women's epee
bronze-medal team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London –
racked up a 21-2 record in tournament action at St. John's
and NYU (facing top-10 teams eight times over the two days).
The eight fencers who round out this week's installment of College Fencing Primetime Performers include: Ohio State junior women's epeeist Katarzyna Dabrowa (Wroclaw, Poland) … Notre Dame junior men's foilist Ariel DeSmet (Troutdale, Ore.) … Northwestern sophomore women's epeeist Courtney Dumas (Cleveland, Ohio) … Penn State junior men's foilist Jeremy Goldstein (Westport, Conn.) … Temple junior women's epeeist Kim Howell (San Antonio, Texas) … Brown freshman women's foilist Audrey Lee (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) … Univ. of Pennsylvania junior men's saber veteran Michael Mills (Short Hills, N.J.) … and Johns Hopkins freshman men's foilist John Petrie (Setauket, N.Y.).
St. John's senior saber veteran Sean Buckley (left)
went 13-2 at both the StJ Invitational and the NYU
Invitational, rising to the occasion with the Red Storm
fielding only two men's saber fencers and forfeiting
three bouts to each opponent. Buckley's series of wins
were particularly valuable at the home meet, with the StJ
men winning three times by 14-13 margins (plus a 15-12).
Brief notes for each honoree are included below, as are more action photos. More detailed capsule tributes are in the process of being added to this page (headshots of all 11 are included in the right sidebar).
Note that situational factors often play a role in the CF360 Primetime awards, going beyond the simple won-loss records. Such factors include quality of opponents, contribution to team victories, clutch wins, success away from home, etc. Whenever possible, there also is also some form of balance from different events/teams (in other words, these are not simply the 11 "best" fencers from the past week – such a list possibly could have been taken directly from the five-team field that competed at St. John's).
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The Primetime Performer designation – also presented on sister sites CollegeSports360, CollegeSoccer360, CollegeBaseball360 and CollegeSoftball360 – seeks to recognize achievement based primarily on situational factors, and not solely on raw stats. Selection for the CF360 weekly awards are based on any/all of the following "primetime" criteria:
• In general, preference is given based on the quality of the opponent, contribution to team victory and situational factors involved in the fencer's accomplishments.
• Exhibited strong leadership and/or involved in clutch performances, match-winning bouts, noteworthy upsets, etc.
• Overcame adversity or extreme circumstances (for the team and/or individual).
• Bonus consideration is given for key performances away from team's home facility.
(We were unable to obtain an action photo of Dubovich
but received this National Anthem shot from the fall.)
Columbia freshman foilist Jackie Dubovich (right) had an impressive debut
at the annual St. John's and NYU invitationals, winning 21 of her 23 bouts while combining with classmate Margatet Lu (20-4) and 2012 Olympian Nzingha Prescod (26-4) to form a formidable foil duo for #3 Columbia women.
College Fencing Primetime Performers of the Week
(Jan. 21-27, 2013 ... presented by CollegeFencing360.com)
*Sean Buckley (men's sabre... St. John's... Sr. ... Seacaucus, NJ)
… Posted 13-2 record at both the St. John's Invitational and NYU Invitational, delivering clutch wins as Red Storm coped with having only two men's sabre fencers (they had to forfeit three bouts vs. each opponent). His consistency was crucial during home tournament, as StJ men – also replacing two All-Americans in epee – had little room for error, with three 14-13 wins (vs. #1 Ohio State, #3 Notre Dame and #6 Harvard) and a 15-12 win over #7 Columbia.
Katarzyna Dabrowa (women's epee ... Ohio State ... Jr. ... Wroclaw, Poland)
… Defending NCAA champion who went 12-3 at the St. John's Invitational and won all but one bout at NYU (14-1).
Ariel DeSmet (men's foil … Notre Dame ... Jr./So. … Troutdale, OR)
… 2011 NCAA champion who made his return to collegiate team fencing (2012 Olympic candidate) in style by winning 28 of his 30 bouts during two-day span at the St. John's Invitational and NYU Invitational.
*Jackie Dubrovich (women's foil ... Columbia ... Fr. … Riverdale, NJ)
… Made an impressive debut on the big stage at the St. John's Invitational by winning 10 of her 11 bouts, followed by an 11-1 mark at NYU Invitational (21-2 for the weekend) while combining with classmate Margaret Lu (20-4) and 2012 Olympian Nzingha Prescod (25-5) to form formidable women's foil trio for the #3 Columbia women's team that went 8-2 over the two days, with eight of those match ups coming against top-10 opponents.
Courtney Dumas (women's epee ... Northwestern ... So. … Cleveland, OH)
… Compiled 25-7 record over challenging two-day stretch of bouting at Philadelphia Invitational and NYU Invitational (including win over ND's Courtney Hurley), helping #7-ranked Wildcats overcome uncharacteristic subpar showings from other veterans – with team highlights including win over the host #9 Temple squad.
Jeremy Goldstein (men's foil … Penn State ... Jr. … Westport, CT)
… Won 12 of his 15 bouts at St. John's Invitational, helping the #2-ranked Penn State men offset absence of standouts Miles-Chamley Watson and David Willette (both members of the U.S. men's foil national team that was busy winning the Paris World Cup).
Kim Howell (women's epee … Temple ... Jr. … San Antonio, TX)
… Her 12-2 record at the Philadelphia Invitational included going 3-0 in 18-9 win over crosstown rival #10 Penn, also winning both her bouts in 19-8 win over improving Cornell squad while later beating 2012 NCAA semifinalist Kate Cavanaugh to help the #9 Owls nearly beat the #7 Wildcats (12-15 loss).
*Courtney Hurley (women's epee … Notre Dame … 5th-Yr.-Sr. … San Antonio, TX)
… The 2011 NCAA champion and member of 2012 Olympic bronze-medal team made a dominant return to collegiate team fencing, going 13-1 against collection of elite programs at St. John's Invitational, then 8-1 at NYU for 21-2 weekend, headlining an ND women's epee squad that won 72 of 90 bouts spanning the two marquee events.
Audrey Lee (women's foil … Brown ... Fr. … Upper Saddle River, NJ)
… Extended her strong rookie season be going 17-1 at the second Northeast Fencing Conference meet, including 3-0 in key matchup vs. Boston College (she earlier was 12-2 at the NFC #1 meet).
Michael Mills (men's sabre … Univ. of Pennsylvania ... Jr. … Short Hills, NJ)
… One of the veteran leaders for the Quakers, winning all seven of his bouts at Philadelphia Invitational, including 3-0 marks vs. top opponents #9 Duke and Sacred Heart (in fall of 2012, he became the first Penn men's sabre fencer ever to win the Penn State Open).
John Petrie (men's foil … Johns Hopkins ... Fr. … Setauket, NY)
… Newcomer whose 11 victories led Jays to four wins at the Philadelphia Invitational, with his 3-0 mark vs. #9 Duke helping JHU beat Blue Devils for first time since 2006 (program's first win over top-10 opponent since 2008).
* Buckley and Hurley are the CF360 National Fencers of the Week while Dubrovich is the National Rookie of the Week.
All photos courtesy of the respective schools or CF360 (action photos currently unavailable for Lu and Petrie; may add later when available).
(below left) – Ohio State women's epeeist Katarzyna Dabrowa … (below right) – Notre Dame men's foilist Ariel DeSmet
(below left) – Northwestern women's epeeist Courtney Dumas … (right) – Penn State men's foilist Jeremy Goldstein
(above left) – Temple women's epeeist Kim Howell … (right) – Penn men's sabre veteran Michael Mills