A blockbuster women's sabre field gathered today for the first four rounds (14 bouts per fencer) at the NCAA Championships. When initially looking solely at the number of returning women's sabreists who competed in the 2008 NCAAs (only seven of the 24 are back), it would appear to be a down year in terms of the depth in this weapon. ... But that's leaving out two key subgroups: Olympic-caliber fencers (who did not fence in the '08 college season) and a crop of talented freshmen.
Three elite women's sabreists – Columbia's Daria Schneider ('07 NCAA champion), Penn State's Caity Thompson ('07 runner-up; 4th in '06) and St. John's standout Dagmara Wozniak (5th in '07) – all have returned to college fencing, after taking a year off to focus on Olympic qualification (Wozniak was a member of the '08 U.S. Olympic squad).
There is another Olympic sabreist – Duke freshman Becca Ward – who has dominated college fencing this season, including her first-place standing today after going 13-1 in the round-robin (the NCAA's final three rounds/nine bouts are on Sunday). Ward brought home bronze individual and team medals from the Beijing Olympics, before embarking on her college career.
Along with Ward, there are six other college fencing newcomers in the 2009 NCAA women's sabre field that have the talent to contend for a spot in the medal round. Those fencers include St. John's senior transfer Dora Varga (a native of Hungary) and five freshmen (plus Ward): Harvard's Caroline Vloka, Penn State's Monica Aksamit, Penn's Dominika Franciskowicz, and the Ohio State duo of Margarita Tschomakova and Falencia Miller.
Five fencers in the 2009 NCAA women's sabre field were 2008 All-Americans, but only two of them – Columbia sophomore Jackie Jacobson (currently 8th) and ND sophomore Eileen Hassett (11th) – are on track to repeat as All-Americans (top-12). The other 10 women's sabreists on pace to be 2009 All-Americans include the three Olympic-caliber veterans and the seven newcomers (all referenced above): Ward (1st), Wozniak (2nd), Vloka (3rd), Schneider (4th), Aksamit (5th), Tschomakova (6th), Varga (7th), Franciszkowicz (9th), Miller (10th) and Thompson (12th).
Considering the infusion of talent mentioned above, it's easier to comprehend how Notre Dame sophomore Sarah Borrmann likely will not repeat as the NCAA champion. Borrmann currently stands in 16th place (5-9), five wins back of the final medal-round spot, and probably still would finish outside the top-4 even if she goes unbeaten on Sunday (to finish 14-9).
Two other former All-Americans – Stanford's Eva Jellison and Penn's Danielle Kamis – similarly are outside of the current top-12 group. Kamis (10th in '08) is in 15th place while the three-time All-American Jellison (8th in '06, 10th in '07, 9th in '08) is further down the rankings, in 21st.
2009 NCAA Fencing Women's Sabre
(four-round/14-bout standings; nine bouts left on Sunday)
1. Becca Ward (Duke) ... 13-1/+45 total-point indicators
2. Dagmara Wozniak (St. John's) ... 12-2/+37
3. Caroline Vloka (Harvard) ... 12-2/+30
4. Daria Schneider (Columbia) ... 11-3/+34
5. Monica Aksamit (Penn State) ... 11-3/+26
6. Margarita Tschomakova (Ohio State) ... 10-4/+21
7. Dora Varga (St. John's) ... 9-5/+8
8. Jackie Jacobson (Columbia) ... 9-5/+8
9. Dominika Franciszkowicz (Penn) ... 8-6/+3
10. Falencia Miller (Ohio State) ... 8-6/E
11. Eileen Hassett (Notre Dame) ... 7-7/E
12. Caitlin Thompson (Penn State) ... 7-7/-1
13. Audrey Barroso (Temple) ... 6-8/-3
14. Kamali Thompson (Temple) ... 6-8/-4
15. Danielle Kamis (Penn) ... 5-9/-8
16. Sarah Borrmann (Notre Dame) ... 5-9/-10
17. Robin Shin (MIT) ... 5-9/-15
18. Anna Hanley (Brandeis) ... 5-9/-15
19. Alex Heiss (Cornell) ... 5-9/-20
20. Lisa Verzino (NYU) ... 4-10/-16
21. Eva Jellison (Stanford) ... 4-10/-21
22. Whitney White (Northwestern) ... 3-11/-30
23. Alyxandra Mattison (NYU) ... 2-12/-35
24. Alicia Trigeiro (UC San Diego) ... 1-13/-34