The "post-Olympic effect" will play out in college fencing once again this year, as several elite athletes have returned to compete for their college teams. Most notable from that group is Harvard foilist Emily Cross, who in 2005 (as a freshman) stopped Notre Dame's Alicja Kryczalo from winning her fourth straight NCAA individual title (Cross won their showdown in the fnal, 15-5). Cross then took third at the 2006 NCAAs (behind SJU's Erzberet Garay and Princeton's Jacqueline Leahy), helping the Crimson win their first NCAA team fencing title.
Cross did not fence for Harvard the past two seasons ('07 and '08) – in order to focus on qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team (she did, reaching the top-32 in the individual competition while helping the U.S. women's foil squad bring home silver from Beijing) – but she is back in 2009, for her fifth and final year of eligibility. Cross had a solid showing yesterday at the St. John's Invitational, going 5-1 with a sweep of SJU and a 2-1 record against Ohio State (her only loss came 5-3 to Oksana Dmytruk, the 2008 NCAA runner-up).
Penn State foilist Doris Wilette ('07 NCAA champ) and sabreist Caity Thompson ('07 NCAA runner-up, 4th-place in '06) also have returned to their college team, helping give the Nittany Lions women the current #1 ranking. Willette was a teammate of Cross in Beijing (she did not fence in the individual competition) while Thompson failed to make the U.S. Olympic women's sabre team.
Speaking of women's sabre, the competition should be fierce at the 2009 NCAAs – due to the returns of Thompson, Columbia's Daria Schneider ('07 NCAA champion) and St. John's standout Dagmara Wozniak (who took 5th at the '07 NCAAs). Wozniak earned an alternate spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, while Schneider failed to qualify for the team following her year off from college fencing.
Schneider's teammate at Columbia, epeeist Dwight Smith (4th at '07 NCAAs, 7th in '06), also came up short in his Olympic bid, but he too is back to strengthen the Lions lineup.
Two newcomers to college fencing – Duke sabreist Becca Ward and Notre Dame foilist Gerek Meinhardt – competed in the Beijing Olympics, just a couple months removed from their high school graduations. Ward impressively brought home a pair of bronze medals (from the Olympic individual and team events) while Meinhardt reached the men's foil round-of-16, as the youngest U.S. fencer ever to compete in the Olympic Games.
Yet another Notre Dame fencer, current junior epeeist Kelley Hurley ('08 NCAA champ, '07 runner-up), also competed in the Beijing Olympics, as the only member of the U.S. women's epee contingent. Unlike many of the fencers mentioned above, Hurley opted not to miss any of her college seasons (in '08, or '07).
Recent Notre Dame fencer Mariel Zagunis repeated as the women's sabre gold medalist in Beijing. Zagunis – the NCAA runner-up in '05 and '06 champion – helped Notre Dame complete its historic comeback to edge Ohio State in the 2005 NCAAs (she spent the '07 and '08 college seasons preparing for the Olympics and has ended her college career).
It will be interesting to see how the infusion of so many talented fencers – Cross, Wilette, Thompson, Schneider, Wozniak, Smith, Ward and Meinhardt – will affect the battles for 2009 NCAA individual and team titles. ... Stay tuned!