March 4, 2007

Notre Dame, Ind. - The Wayne State University women's fencing squad placed fourth out of 17 schools with 545 points at the 2007 Midwest Fencing Conference team championship held on Sunday, March 4 at the University of Notre Dame.

In the men's and women's combined championship, Wayne State tied-for-fifth with Cleveland State at 950 points. Ohio State finished first with 1320 points and was followed by Notre Dame (1245), Northwestern (1110) and Michigan (980). Trailing the Warriors and the Vikings were Michigan State (885), Chicago (825), Indiana (810), Detroit (675), Wisconsin (625), Lawrence (550), Purdue (425), Xavier (420), Case Western Reserve (395), Illinois and Oberlin (370) and Minnesota (260).

The WSU women's epee squad of senior Anna Garina (Kiev, Ukraine) and juniors Justyna Konczalska (Innsbruck, Austria) and Alyse Schneider (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) was seeded second. In the first round the Warriors recorded a 5-2 win over No. 15 Oberlin and followed that with a 5-1 quarterfinal triumph over No. 10 Lawrence. In the semifinals, Wayne State dropped a 5-4 decision to eventual champion (and third seeded) Notre Dame to place third.

The Wayne State women's sabre contigent of junior Kasia Kuzniak (Konin, Poland), freshman Ann Bartoszewicz (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) and senior Alicia Chmielewski (Harper Woods, Mich./University Liggett) was seeded sixth. WSU defeated 11th-ranked Lawrence (5-1) and third-ranked Michigan (5-2) before falling to eventual runner-up (and second seeded) Northwestern 5-1 in the semifinals to place fourth.

The Warrior women's foil trio consisting of senior Lindsey Howard (Goshen, Ind./Mishawaka), junior Erin Stranyak (Carleton, Mich./Monroe) and freshman Melanie Kwiatkowski (Clinton Twp., Mich./L'Anse Creuse) was seeded 11th but upended sixth-seeded Indiana, 5-2, in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, WSU dropped a 5-2 decision to third-seeded Notre Dame to finish seventh.

Select members of the Wayne State squad will head back to South Bend this Saturday (March 10) for the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Women's Overall Final Results
Place	School	Epee	Foil	Sabre	Total
1.	Ohio State	210	210	225	645
2t.	Notre Dame	225	200	200	625
2t.	Northwestern	190	225	210	625
4.	Wayne State	200	155	190	545
5.	Michigan	145	175	175	495
6.	Michigan State	155	190	145	490
7.	Chicago	175	145	130	450
8.	Cleveland State	130	165	120	415
9.	Lawrence	165	100	110	375
10.	Indiana	75	130	165	370
11.	Wisconsin	120	120	85	325
12.	Xavier	100	85	100	285
13.	Detroit	85	---	155	240
14.	Oberlin	110	75	---	185
15t.	Minnesota	55	---	75	130
15t.	Purdue	65	65	---	130
17.	Illinois	---	110	---	110