When the Northwestern contingent gathered at this past weekend's USFA 2011 December North American Cup, they hoped to improve upon the team's previous performance at the Garrett Open a month ago. The Wildcats came up with mixed results.
Freshman Courtney Dumas continued her strong freshman campaign, placing 19th in the epée tournament, but junior foil Dayana Sarkisova and junior sabre Chloe Grainger both put up subpar performances, finishing 48th and 57th, respectively.
"It wasn't a real tournament for me," Sarkisova said.
The event, which was held at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Mo., featured several of the top fencers from around the nation, including three medalists from the 2008 Olympic Games and 2011 Senior World Championships. Since the tournament was not on NU's schedule, it was optional for NU fencers to compete in the event. Those that did compete had to pay their own way to attend.
"I just think it's important to participate and do as much as possible to keep improving," Sarkisova said.
Sarkisova didn't participate for long. After winning only half of her pool bouts, she lost in her first direct elimination bout to Olivia Dobbs, a fencer Sarkisova said had never beaten her previously. Grainger won just one of her pool bouts and failed to qualify for the direct elimination round in the sabre competition.
Both fencers cited stress from final exams and fatigue as reasons for their poor performances.
"I definitely wasn't ready to compete when the tournament came about," said Sarkisova, who added that she felt "burnt out" at the event and almost decided to withdraw from the tournament before it ended.
But Dumas didn't seemed dazed by finals week, as she won all of her pool bouts except one to earn her best finish ever in a Division I USFA competition.
"All in all, it was a great day," said Dumas, who added that she could have placed higher if she had just made a few less errors. "Sometimes, I was a little overaggressive or didn't change my game plan fast enough. It ended up costing me some touches and it was difficult for me to get back to even."
Even with the errors, Dumas was able to defeat several challenging opponents, including Lindsay Campbell, who is currently ranked 39th in the world and is competing for a bid to fence in the 2012 Olympics in London.
For Dumas, this weekend's finish was simply a continuation of what has been a very strong season thus far. She has finished in the top 20 at every tournament she has competed in, including a first-place finish in the epée competition at the USFA Burton Open in October. And while Dumas said she was pleased with her performance through the first half of her freshman season, she said she was also ready to begin fencing team events with the rest of the Wildcats' fencers.
But before returning to her teammates, Dumas will look to bring her first-half success overseas as she represents NU and the United States at the December Junior World Cup (also known as the Uhlmann-Cup) in Laupheim, Germany this weekend. The rest of the Cats will return to action after winter break on January 7, 2012, at the Air Force Duals in Colorado Springs, Colo.
benjamintaylor2015@u.northwestern.edu
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!