Feb. 26, 2007

CAMBRIDGE, MA - In Sacred Heart's best finish ever, the Pioneer foil squad led the men's fencing team to a fourth place finish at the Northeast Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Tournament at MIT on Saturday.

The foil squad (Lucas Bernacki, Dan Convery-Zupan and Nick Bentley) edged out a strong MIT squad for second place in the foil competition.

"The foil team was absolutely fantastic today" commented head coach Dr. Tom Vrabel. "They were focused and really performing well."

With a large contingent of family and friends cheering them on, the foil team did not lose a round all day. Lucas Bernacki and Dan Convery-Zupan also qualified for the individual championship, where Dan placed 6th and Luc 7th . Nick Bentley finished one win short of also qualifying for the individual championships.

In addition to foil's strong effort the men's epee squad placed fifth, only one win short of third place. Charlie Thompson and Kyle Dee qualified for the individual epee championship where Charlie finished fifth and Kyle tenth. Chris Fabio also had a great day in saber and qualified for the individual championship, finishing 11th.

" I am so happy for this team today" said Coach Vrabel. "Despite having people switch weapons mid season and battling many tough injuries, the fencers continued to work hard and improve all year. It is really amazing to see the progress that Kyle Dee and Chris Fabio made this year"

"Both came to SHU last fall after successful high school careers fencing foil. They willingly switched to new weapons this year (Fabio to saber one week before the season began and Dee to epee in January) and ended up having great years. Their willingness to put the team's needs first was fantastic. They are now poised to have great sophomore campaigns next year. Dan Convery-Zupan joined the team as a transfer this semester and stepped right in to strengthen the foil squad. What he was able to accomplish in only half a season on the team was truly incredible."

The team finishes its Northeast regional season on March 11th at the NCAA regional qualifying tournament at Tufts University.