Melanie Bautista Fencing Roster

2006 NCAA Participant

Spirited third-year foilist who made NCAA debut in 2006 … energetic presence whose fun-loving personality sparks emotion of the entire team … has proven to be a clutch performer who can overcome stressful situations and is eager to take on top opponents … hard worker who will be looking to make some technical improvements in 2006-07 while developing more consistency in her daily bouting … capable of turning in some upsets and noteworthy results throughout her junior season … a high-energy athlete and second-generation college fencer who was an accomplished youth karate champion before picking up fencing later in her youth … has elements of sabre style incorporated into her bouting (she fenced sabre as a prep) … shows excellent reaction time … compiled 105-25 record in regular-season bouts during first two seasons with the Irish … originally from Dayton, Ohio, but recently moved with her family to Sacramento, Calif. … entered 2006 fall semester with 3.30 cumulative grade-point average, as a double major in psychology and Arts and Letters pre-professional studies … placed 31st at annual Penn State Open in the fall of 2006.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Racked up 58-18 record during 2005-06 regular season before placing seventh in Midwest Fencing Conference and using 5th-place finish at Midwest Regional to clinch spot in the NCAA field … received fencing program[apos]s DeCicco/Langford Award, recognizing inspiration and dedication … was in position to challenge for All-America honors at NCAAs before injury affected her final three bouts (she ended up 14th, two spots shy of All-America) … opened with 14-3 record at Northwestern Duals, highlighted by sweep of NU standouts Sam Nemecek (3-2) and Jessica Florendo (5-4) … her 8-6 record versus tough field at NYU Duals included wins over Yale[apos]s Alisa Mendelsohn (3-2, OT) and NYU[apos]s Kristen Wentrcek (5-3) … beat Cleveland State[apos]s Leigh Pendergrass (5-0) as part of 15-5 mark at ND Duals, with losses to the Northwestern duo (4-5 vs. Florendo, 1-5 vs. Nemecek) … added 8-1 record at Ohio State Duals and 13-3 at the UC San Diego Duals (5-2 win over UCSD[apos]s Jen Chun) … advanced to MFC semifinals before losing to teammate Adi Nott (2-15; finished 7th) … entered Regional (in Cleveland) as #5 seed but fell to #8 entering direct-elimination, before win over CSU[apos]s Pendergrass (15-9), quarterfinal loss to NU[apos]s Nemecek (6-15), 15-11 win over OSU[apos]s Amelia Gaillard (15-11) and a 15-12 victory over Northwestern[apos]s Natalie Wang in 5th-place bout … headed to Houston for NCAAs and split her 14 bouts on first day (13th place) … her day-1 bouts included 5-3 win over teammate Nott, a sweep of the Northwestern duo (5-4 vs. Florendo, 5-0 vs. Nemecek), a 4-3 OT win over PSU[apos]s Tam Najm and a 5-0 shutout of Cal State Fullerton veteran Senta Breden … ultimately finished 14th with record of 11-11 in NCAA 23-bout round-robin, after vacating final bout with Temple[apos]s Nina Gernes … in first bout of final round, she scored touch for 4-3 lead but Jenna Remmert[apos]s nearly-simultaneous lunge led to accidental collision … Bautista took full 10 minutes to recover but lost bout to the Temple fencer (4-5) … became ill in next bout and withdrew, giving NYU[apos]s Kristen Wentrcek a 4-2 win … other day-2 bouts included wins over Columbia[apos]s Kelsey Finkel (4-3), Princeton[apos]s Sara Jew-Lim (5-2) and Penn[apos]s Ilana Sinkin (5-3).

AS A FRESHMAN: Enjoyed an impressive debut in 2004-05, serving as an NCAA alternate after her 47-7 regular season and 6th-place finish at the Midwest Regional … received the Yves Auriol Award as Notre Dame[apos]s most improved fencer … went 3-1 at the season-opening NYU Duals and then 25-5 at the Notre Dame Duals … her key wins at the ND Duals included a sweep of the three Northwestern foilists – Christina Wang (5-3), Julia Foldi (5-4) and Florendo (5-4) … went 8-0 at the OSU Duals and finished regular season with an 11-1 record at the Duke Duals …scored decisive win in the MFC team championships by defeating OSU[apos]s Alexandra DiCerbo … that 5-0 win gave the Irish women[apos]s foilists the 5-4 margin over OSU and enough points for the entire ND women[apos]s squad to leapfrog OSU into first place … finished sixth at the MFC individual championships, losing to four-time All-American Foldi in an 11-15 quarterfinal … her 7th-place finish at the Regional included top wins over teammate Andrea Ament (5-0), Northwestern[apos]s Florendo and NU sisters Christina (5-4) and Natalie Wang (5-2) …opened 2005 competition by fencing at the North American Cup held in Overland Park, Kan. … later placed 15th in the d-3 bouting at the 2005 Summer Nationals (Sacramento, Calif.).

PREP & PERSONAL: Coached in sabre fencing by her father Ray (a former fencer at Cal State Fullerton) while competing in karate and cross country at Chaminade Julienne High School … won Junior Pan-Am karate titles in [apos]00 and [apos]02 ([apos]03 bronze) and was U.S. national karate champion from [apos]94-[apos]03 … an 11-year AAU karate All-American ([apos]94-[apos]04) … named most outstanding junior competitor at [apos]03 U.S. Karate Open … member of U.S. karate team from 2000-04 … medaled in every international karate event she entered … undefeated as nationally ranked state champ in karate all four years at CJHS … lettered in cross country as junior and senior … member of National Honor Society … hails from same high school as recent Notre Dame basketball point guard Megan Duffy and former Irish distance runner Nicole LaSelle ([apos]00) … daughter of Ray and Pam Bautista … full name is Melanie Verder Bautista … born Aug. 20, 1986, in Vallejo, Calif. … a double major in psychology and pre-professional studies, enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters.

Bautista[apos]s Career Record