Nov. 22, 2009
Complete Results in PDF Format 
University Park, Pa. – Notre Dame fencers Sarah Borrmann and Avery Zuck claimed gold medals at Penn State’s annual Garrett Open and 13 other Irish fencers turned in top-10 finishes in their respective weapons at the two-day event. Notre Dame’s other medalists included Hayley Reese (Crestwood, Ky.), who took the silver in women’s foil, and Enzo Castellani (Keller, Texas), who earned the bronze in men’s foil.
In women’s sabre, Borrmann (Beaverton, Ore.) was the fourth seed in the final table of 16. She downed Ohio State’s Margarita Tschmoakova, 15-9, to advance to the final eight, where she out-dueled Penn State’s Jessica Russo, 15-8, for a place in the semifinals. In the semis, Borrmann edged Joanne Cichomski of Princeton, 15-12. In the championship bout, Borrmann defeated Caroline Vloka of Harvard, 15-11.
Junior Eileen Hassett (Beaverton, ore.) and freshman Lian Osier (Battle Ground, Wash.) also made the women’s sabre final 16, with Hassett earning the 11th seed and Osier the 10th. Hassett downed FDU’s Sophia Bischof, 15-14, to advance to the final eight. But the 2009 All-American was knocked out by Vloka, 15-12, to finish in 7th. Osier fell to seventh seeded Falencia Miller of Ohio State in a closely contested bout, 15-14, to finish 12th.
In women’s foil, Reese earned the second seed in the final table of 16. She defeated Duke’s Dana Rosen in her first elimination bout, 15-5, and followed with a 15-8 win over Princeton’s Brianna Martin to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, Reese downed Holly McKibben of Ohio State, 15-4 to advance to a championship showdown with fourth-seeded Doris Willette of Penn State. Willette proved victorious, 15-6.
Reese was joined in the final 16 by Darsie Malynn (Grapevine, Texas), who earned the fifth seed, and freshman Grace Hartman (St. paul, Minn.), who was seeded 16th. The duo dropped their first round bouts to finish in 10th and 16th, respectively.
Senior Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) led the Irish entrants with a fifth-place showing.
On the men’s side, Zuck (Beaverton, Ore.) had an impressive run to the men’s sabre gold as he downed Penn State sophomore Aleksander Ochocki in the semifinals, 15-11. Then in the championship bout, Zuck overcame Valentin Staller of Harvard to claim the gold. The Irish had three other men’s fencers finish in the sabre top-10, as junior Barron Nydam (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) finished eighth, sophomore Marcel Frenkel (Sao Paulo, Brazil) ninth and freshman William McGough (Bronxville, N.Y.) 10th.
In men’s foil, Castellani finished third in a field of 50 fencers, while freshman Grant Hodges (Salina, Kan.) finished fifth overall. Steve Kubik (San Antonio, Texas) and Reggie Bentley Little Rock, Ark.) finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
In men’s epee, freshman James Kaull (Washington D.C.) led the Irish contingent with a sixth place finish, while junior Andrew Seroff (Boulder, Colo.) finished seventh.
The Irish fencing squad is back in action on Dec. 5 when they travel to Detroit, Mich. to take part in the I.Danosi Cup at Wayne State.
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