Feb. 18, 2008

HANOVER, NH - In its continuing climb to regional prominence, the Sacred Heart University womens fencing team placed fifth in a 14-team field at the NEIWFA Conference Championship at Dartmouth College on Sunday.

The Pioneers were once again led by their dominant saber squad, which posted a 36-2 record on their way to its first-ever Conference squad championship. All three of the fencers advanced to the individual championship round, with freshman Anna Hanley going undefeated on her way to the gold medal. Sophomore team captain Krista Bacci earned the bronze medal and freshman Kayla Cronin placed tenth.

"This was truly a dominant performance by our young saber squad," commented head coach Dr. Tom Vrabel. "This was by far the best New England Championships ever for the Pioneers. Since we had only freshmen and sophomores competing on Sunday, our future looks extremely bright."

In addition to the heroics of the saber squad, The epee squad placed fifth and the foil squad placed ninth. Leading the way for the epeeists was freshman Allison Ratis who finished eigth in the individual competition. Freshman foilist JoAnne Siskidis also placed eight in the individual competition.

"This was a great end to a very successful season," said Vrabel. "We ended the year with a 12-13 NCAA record, the first time the team has ever had double-digit victories. A fifth place finish in league play followed by fifth in the conference championships and a saber squad championship - that is real special. This performance puts on a real positive footing for NCAA Regionals."

The team has qualified seven fencers for the NCAA Regionals at Vassar College on March 2nd.