March 15, 2009
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Freshman epeeist Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, TX/Earl Warren), freshman foilist Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding) as well as sophomores Avery Zuck (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) and Barron Nydam (Rancho Sante Fe/Sante Fe Christian) have been named to Team USA for the upcoming Junior World Championships it was announced by the United States Fencing Association. The 2009 Junior World Fencing Championships will take place on April 4-13 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Hurley is in the midst of an impressive year on both the collegiate and international levels. On the regular season, she turned in a 50-5 record for the Irish and followed up by taking the women’s epee titles at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships and the NCAA Midwest Regional. She also notched five top-three finishes in the eight Junior World Cup events she has entered since January of 2008, including first place finishes at Tauberbischofsheim, Germany (11/29/08) and Montreal, Canada (10/26/08).
Meinhardt, a 2008 U.S. Olympian, posted a 31-2 mark during the regular season and went on to finish fifth at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Most recently on the international level, he competed at the Challenge International de Paris/Challenge Rommel (1/23/09), a senior level event in which he earned an 18th-place finish. Also in January of 2009, he placed first at the North American Cup D in Louisville, Ky.
Nydam posted a regular season record of 22-10 for the Irish. He finished sixth at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships and helped Notre Dame win the men’s sabre team title at the event. Then, at the NCAA Midwest Regional, he placed fifth. Nydam’s recent highlights from the junior world cup circuit include second place finishes in Budapest, Hungary (1/5/09) and Montreal, Canada (10/25/08) and a third place finish in Künzelsau, Germany (1/10/09). He also had a good showing at the NAC D event in Louisville, as he finished in a tie for third.
Zuck posted a 28-8 regular season record and went on to finish second overall at both the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships and the NCAA Midwest Regional. He also helped Notre Dame capture the men’s sabre team title at the MFC Championships. He finished in second at the NAC D event in Louisville and earned a fifth place finish at the Junior World Cup event in Dormagen, Germany (11/22/08) as well as a sixth place finish in Montreal, Canada (10/25/08). Most recently, he finished 52nd in Künzelsau, Germany (1/10/09).
Hurley, Meinhardt, Nydam and Zuck have each been named to Notre Dame’s 12-person NCAA squad that will be traveling to State College, Pa. to compete for the 2009 NCAA National Title. The quartet, and the rest of the Irish contingent, will return to action in search of the program’s eighth NCAA team title on March 19.
— ND —