March 4, 2007

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Cleveland State men's and women's fencing teams kicked off the postseason by competing at the Midwest Conference Championships at Notre Dame on Saturday and Sunday. The men's squad earned a third-place finish - the best in school history, while the women were eighth.

With 535 points, the men finished behind only nationally-ranked Ohio State (675) and Notre Dame (620) in the 18-team field. The foil team was third, epee fourth and sabre eighth. Freshman Liran Gross earned second team all-conference accolades in foil, while senior Mike Merker (foil) and sophomore Andy Snell (epee) both garnered honorable mention nods.

On the women's side, Ohio State tallied 645 points to edge Northwestern and Notre Dame, which both finished with 625 points, while the Vikings totaled 415 points. CSU junior Katie Smetana earned honorable mention all-conference honors in sabre. The Vikings were sixth in foil, ninth in epee and 10th in sabre.

"Our showing over the weekend solidifies our performance over the course of the year," CSU head coach Jim Sager said. "This was our best finish at the conference championships in the history of the program.

"We're looking forward to going back to Notre Dame next weekend and hopefully sending some fencers on to the NCAA Championships."

Cleveland State will learn on Tuesday (March 6) who will return to Notre Dame on Saturday (March 10) when selections are announced for the NCAA Midwest Regionals.