Notre Dame head fencing coach Janusz Bednarski (seen here with All-American Patrick Ghattas at the 2005 NCAA Championships) has agreed to a multi-year contract extension, the University announced Thursday.

Irish Women Ranked First, Men Third In First USFCA Poll

Jan. 18, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The first United States Fencing Coaches’ Association (USFCA) poll of the 2007-08 season has been released and Notre Dame tops the women’s rankings, while the Fighting Irish men are third. Penn State was tabbed as the No. 1 team in the men’s poll, followed by Ohio State. The Buckeyes are No. 2 in the women’s rankings and Columbia-Barnard is third.

Notre Dame opened the spring semester portion of its schedule last weekend at the Western Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Irish women posted a perfect 5-0 mark, while the men tied No. 10 Stanford for first with a 4-1 record.

There will be three USFCA polls during the 2007-08 campaign. The next set of rankings will be released after the Junior Olympics in February, while the final poll is taken after the NCAA Regionals in March.

The Fighting Irish return to action at the NYU Duals on Saturday, Jan. 26.

USFCA Coaches' PollMen1. Penn State2. Ohio State3. Notre Dame4. St. John's (N.Y.)5. Columbia6. Pennsylvania7. Harvard8. Princeton9. Brandeis10. Stanford
Women1. Notre Dame2. Ohio State3. Columbia-Barnard4. Penn State5. Harvard6. Northwestern7. St. John's (N.Y.)8. Pennsylvania9. Temple10. Princeton