February 25, 1999
Irish Preview: Seven-time defending champion Notre Dame will play host to the Midwest Intercollegiate Championship on February 27-28, at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse. At the 1998 Midwest championships the Irish placed first in sabre, men’s foil and epee, and women’s epee, while taking second place in women’s foil. The Irish will do battle with Midwestern foes, including Ohio State, Cleveland State, Northwestern, Wayne State, Detroit, Case Western Reserve, Michigan and Michigan State.
Irish Review: The Irish finished out the regular season in Appleton, Wis., at Lawrence University. Notre Dame faced Wayne State, Michigan, Michigan State, Detroit, Lawrence and Northwestern. The Irish fenced without the services of foilist Charles Hayes (South Bend, Ind.), sabremen Andre Crompton (Irvington, N.J.), All-American eppeist Magda Krol (Vancouver, British Columbia) and All-American foilists Sara Walsh (Mishawaka, Ind.). The men’s team went 6-0 on the day which places their final record at 22-1. Sabremen Steve McQuade (Clifton, N.J.) and foilist Jeremy Beau (Dunedin, Fla.) played major roles in the absence of their teammates as they posted 15-1 and 14-2 marks respectively. The women registered a 5-1 record on the day with the lone loss coming to Northwestern 17-15. The Irish women are 1-2 this season in matches that are decided by two or fewer bouts. All-American Myriah Brown (Mishawaka, Ind.) went a 24-0 on the day, while fellow foilist Gina Couri (East Peoria, Ill.) finished with a 21-3 mark.
Head Coach Yves Auriol: Yves Auriol is in his fourth season as head coach of both the mens and womens team. Auriol has achieved great success in his first three seasons guiding the Irish to three second-place finishes at the NCAA championships. Coming into the 1999 season Auriol had a career record of 376-20 (.949). Auriol notched his 400th career-coaching win when the Irish men defeated Rutgers 20-7 at the Duke Invitational. With the women notching their second win of the season against Penn, Auriol gained his 300th womens coaching victory. The coach will also look to achieve his 100th mens coaching victory this season. Returning eight of 10 1998 NCAA championship competitors and seven of the eight 1998 Irish-All-Americans Auriol is looking forward to another successful season.
Seniors Touch Record Book: This weekend’s Midwestern Intercollegiate Championship will mark the final appearance for the Irish seniors at home. Notre Dame’s class of 1999 will leave as one of the most successful classes in the rich history of Irish fencing, which dates back to the 1934 season. Luke LaValle already has established himself as one of the greatest sabreman in Notre Dame history after winning the 1998 NCAA sabre title. With a career record of 200-20, the three-time All-American stands second in career wins for sabre and all weapons. Carl Jackson’s 173 career epee wins are the second-most career epee wins in Irish history, and his 56 wins in 1995 are the second-most in a single season. Stephane Auriol has moved into second-place on the career foil win list with 154.
On the women’s side, three-time All-American foilists, Myriah Brown and Sara Walsh stand first and second in career foil wins. Brown has 291 foil wins in her career, and Walsh has won 231. Walsh, a second-place finisher at both the 1996 and 1997 NCAA championships, also stands second in career winning percentage and career foil winning percentage with a career record of 231-7 (.971), behind Maria Panyi in both categories. Nicole Paulina is fifth in career foil wins with 216. Despite fencing mostly foil as a freshman, All-American Nicole Mustilli is second in career epee wins with 235 and second in total career wins with 304.