Oct. 4, 2009

2009 USFA Burton Results

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern had a promising start to the 2009-10 women's fencing season, capturing gold medals in all three weapons at the season-opening USFA Burton. 20 different Wildcats placed in the top-10 of their respective weapons in an effort which pleased head coach Laurie Schiller.

"I'm very happy with the results for just the second week of school," Schiller said. "It is a great first step to the season and really bodes well for our success this year."

In the women's epée, senior All-American Christa French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) captured the gold medal for NU, defeating freshman teammate Kendrick Mooney (Acadia, Calif.) 15-6 for her second-straight Burton title. Northwestern occupied eight of the top 10 spots, with freshman Kara Collins (Houston, Texas) and seniors Joanna Niklinska (Granger, Ind./Penn) and Kayley French (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) rounding out the top-five.

NCAA qualifier Devynn Patterson (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) got her sophomore season off to a quick start, capturing the gold in the women's foil by outlasting freshman teammate Dayana Sarkasova (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 15-12. The Wildcats were even more dominant in the foil, taking nine of the top-10 places, including a clean sweep of the top five. Senior Meredith Baskies (Lynnfield, Mass./Boston University Academy) and sophomore Rebecca Grohman (South Orange, N.J./Columbia) tied for third with junior Irisa Chen (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) placing fifth.

Freshman Chloe Grainger (Decatur, Ga.) completed the gold medal sweep for the Wildcats, capturing first in the women's sabre division. Fellow freshman Alicia Gurrieri (Medford, N.J.) and senior Allie Keller (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle Regional) tied for third with senior Whitney White (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) just missing a top-five finish, finishing sixth.

Northwestern will remain in Evanston for the next little while, preparing for the annual USFA Remenyik Open at the Sports and Aquatic Center (SPAC) on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18.