Today's blog entries may be a bit delayed, as we are limited by the communications setup at each facility. We had initial word that Ohio State All-America men's sabreist Sergey Smirnov was at the Northwestern Duals, after not competing last week at the SJU Invite or NYU Duals (it later was confirmed that Smirnov is not with the Buckeyes at today's event).
Notre Dame sophomore men's foilist Steve Kubik also is at the NU Duals (he did not fence last week), as is ND freshman foil phenom Gerek Meinhardt (who was fencing overseas last weekend, at a World Cup Grand Prix event in Paris). Meinhardt competed with the U.S. men's foil team at the 2008 Olympic Games, becoming the youngest Olympic fencer in Team USA history.
Notre Dame may boast the deepest four-man foil unit in collegiate fencing, with Meinhardt, brothers Steve and Mark Kubik (a senior), and sophomore Zach Schirtz. Mark Kubik is a two-time NCAA Tournament competitor, earning All-America honors with his 7th-place finish in 2007 (he was 21st in '06). The younger Kubik (8th) and Schirtz (11th) followed up with All-America finishes at the 2008 NCAAs. Most recently, last week at the NYU Duals, the ND men's foilists (Meinhardt, Schirtz and Mark Kubik) swept two-time defending NCAA champion Andras Horanyi, helping clinch the Irish win over Ohio State.
... With each team allowed a maximum of two NCAA entrants per weapon, it should be interesting to see which ND men's foilists qualify for the '09 NCAAs.