March 20, 2005

Houston, Texas - Wayne State University epeeist Anna Garina (Kiev, Ukraine) claimed her second consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) indiviudal title with an outstanding second day.

Even though she was not among the top four fencers after the first four rounds (14 five-touch bouts) on Saturday, Garina fenced well in Sunday's three rounds to finish the round-robin portion with a 16-7 record.

Garina was seeded third, behind Penn's Holly Buechel (18-5) and Columbia's Morgan Midgley (17-6). Garina was seeded ahead of Notre Dame's Amy Orlando (16-7) because of touch differential (Garina +23, Orlando +17).

After winning her semifinal bout 15-11 over Midgley, Garina defeated Orlando 15-6 to win the NCAA title. Orlando defeated Buechel 15-5 in her semifinal match.

Senior Anna Vinnikov (Ma'alot, Israel) earned honorable mention All-America honors by placing 11th.

The strong performances of WSU's two female epeeists helped the Warriors finish 10th in the team standings.