March 3, 2007

Notre Dame, Ind. - Members of the Wayne State University women's fencing team competed on Saturday in the individual portion of the Midwest Fencing Conference championship in the Joyce Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

In the women's epee, senior Anna Garina (Kiev, Ukraine) entered the competition as the fourth seed and after compling a 5-0 mark (+18 in touches) in pools was seeded fourth for the round of 16. She defeated Northwestern's Sarah Gravlee (15-8) and Notre Dame's Amy Orlando (15-4) to reach the semifinals where she fell (15-11) to eventual champion Kelley Hurley of Notre Dame. Garina placed third in the individual competition.

Also participating in the women's epee for WSU was junior Justyna Konczalska (Innsbruck, Austria). She was seeded seventh and compiled a 4-1 mark (+13 in touches) in pool play to earn a No. 11 seed for the round of 16. Konczalska upset the No. 6 seed, Northwestern's Sara Pecherek, 15-11, but fell to Northwestern's Christa French, the No. 3 seed, 15-11 in the quarterfinals. Konczalska earned a sixth-place finish in the individual competition.

Junior Alyse Schneider (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) was the No. 15 seed in the women's epee entering today's action. She had a 2-4 record (-4 touches) to place 34th in pool play. Schneider had a 16th-place finish for the individual competition.

In the women's sabre, junior Kasia Kuzniak (Konin, Poland) entered the day ranked fourth and was seeded third after pool play based on her 5-0 record (+19 touches). She won her round of 16 bout, 15-13, over Northwestern's Gina Annunziato. In the quarterfinals, Kuzniak lost 15-6 to Notre Dame's Valerie Providenza, the eventual runner-up. Kuzniak earned a fifth-place finish in the individual competition.

Freshman Ann Bartoszewicz (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) was the seventh seeded entering pool play and compiled a 4-1 mark (+8 touches) to earn the 12th seed for the round of 16. She dropped a 15-9 bout to Ohio State's Syvenna Siebert, the No. 5 seed, and eventual semifinalist. Bartoszewicz was ranked 11th after the day's competition.

Senior Alicia Chmielewski (Harper Woods, Mich./University Liggett) was the No. 41 seed and recorded a 3-3 mark (-2 touches) in pool play and earned a 33rd-place finish.

In the women's foil, senior Lindsey Howard (Goshen, Ind./Mishawaka) proved her 13th seed entering pool play was misleading as she compiled a 6-0 record (+25 touches) to enter the round of 16 as the No. 4 seed. Howard defeated Ohio State's Courtney Streithorst, 15-3, in the round of 16 before falling in the quarterfinals, 15-6, to Northwestern's Jessica Florendo, a semifinalist. She was ranked tied-for-fifth after the competition.

Freshman Melanie Kwiatkowski (Clinton Twp., Mich./L'Anse Creuse) was the 17th seed in the sabre and had a 3-3 record (+2 touches) in pool play. She was ranked 34th after the finals.

Junior Erin Stranyak (Carleton, Mich./Monroe) entered as the No. 38 seed and compiled an 0-5 record (-23 touches) to finish 32nd.

Team competition takes place on Sunday, March 4, with women's foil beginning at 8 a.m. The women's sabre and epee commence at 10 a.m.