COLLEGE FENCING 360.com
CollegeFencing360.com now provides an online home for the USFCA national fencing poll. The first poll of 2010 was released on Jan. 21, with the second poll now being released (on Feb. 18) while the final poll will appear the first week of March (after the NCAA regionals). Archived polls from previous years and historical notes on the USFCA poll likewise will be linked in the future, via this page (2009 polls are listed below).
The Notre Dame men – who wrapped up the 2010 regular season with a 33-0 record in dual meets (24-0 vs. varsity squads) – racked up 11 wins over teams ranked in the first 2010 USFCA top-10 poll: #1 Penn State, #3 Ohio State (twice), #4 Princeton, #5 Columbia (2), #7 Harvard, #8 St. John's (2), #9 Yale and #10 Duke. The ND women (35-0; 27-0 vs. varsity teams) similarly had an impressive run of wins over top-10 teams, with 13 victories over teams currently or previously ranked among the top-10 (numbers are previous ranking, unless note): #1 Penn State, #3 Harvard, #4 Columbia (2), #5 Northwestern (2), #6 Ohio State (2), #7 Temple, #9 Princeton and #10 Yale – plus two wins over current #6 St. John's.
The Penn State men and women each dropped a spot to #2 in the poll, while the Ohio State men remained #3 and the Princeton men #4. Princeton joins ND and PSU as the only schools with both its men and women ranked in the top-5 (the Tiger women have surged from 9th to 4th in the latest rankings).
The St. John's men climbed three spots (8th to 5th) and the Harvard men bumped up a spot to 6th, with fellow Ivy League teams Pennsylvania (6th to 7th) and Columbia (5th to 8th) dropping down in the poll. Duke inched up from 10th to 9th while Air Force – led by the All-America epee due of senior Peter French and junior Daniel Trapani – has entered the top-10 in the 10th spot (previous #9 Yale dropped out of the men's poll).
In addition to Princeton, two other women's teams made noteworthy jumps in the poll – as Northwestern now sits in the #3 spot while the previously-unranked St. John's women now are slotted 6th. The Harvard women (#3 to #9) took the biggest tumble in the poll, with one-spot drops by Columbia-Barnard (now 5th), Ohio State (7th) and Temple (8th), along with the Penn women slipping from 8th to 10th and the #10 Yale women falling out of the poll.
Noteworthy results (other than the key ND wins noted above) that may have affected movement in the polls are as follows:
• Harvard men def. Ohio State and Columbia
• Duke men def. Penn State
• Air Force men def. Duke
• Ohio State women def. Harvard and Northwestern
• St. John's women def. Penn State, Harvard, Columbia and Ohio State (twice)
• Columbia women def. Penn State and Harvard
• Princeton women def. Northwestern, Ohio State and Temple
• Brandeis women def. Penn
• UC San Diego women def. Temple
Princeton's ascent into top-5 status has been led by All-Americans such as junior men's epeeist Graham Wicas ('09 NCAA runner-up), sophomore men's foilist Alex Mills and sophomore women's epeeist Susannah Scanlan. The Tigers also have received a boost from senior men's sabreist Thomas Abend and the sophomore women's foil duo of Andrea Oliva ('09 NCAA entrant) and Rocky Rothenberg, along with clutch performances from freshman newcomers Jonathan Yergler (men's epee), Eliza Stone (women's sabre) and Hannah Safford (women's epee).
The St. John's women have entered the national top-10 thanks to strong showings by senior All-Americans Dagmara Wozniak (sabre) and Tanya Novakovska (epee), while reloading its roster with several European imports – most notably foilist Evgeniya Kirpicheva (Ufa, Russia) and epeeist Sanne Gans (Karlskrona, Sweden).
2010 USFCA College Fencing Coaches Poll (poll #2; Feb. 18)
MEN (previous rank)
1. Notre Dame (2)
2. Penn State (1)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Princeton (4)
5. St. John's (8)
6. Harvard (7)
7. Pennsylvania (6)
8. Columbia (5)
9. Duke (10)
10. Air Force (–)
Others receiving votes: NYU, Yale, North Carolina, Stanford, UC San Diego,
Sacred Heart, Wayne State and Brown.
2010 USFCA College Fencing Coaches Poll (poll #2; Feb. 18)
WOMEN (previous rank)
1. Notre Dame (2)
2. Penn State (1)
3. Northwestern (5)
4. Princeton (9)
5. Columbia-Barnard (4)
6. St. John's (–)
7. Ohio State (6)
8. Temple (7)
9. Harvard (3)
10. Pennsylvania (8)
Others receiving votes: Duke, Yale, UC San Diego, North Carolina, Cornell,
Brandeis, NYU, Brown and Stanford
NOTRE DAME CLAIMS SOLE POSSESSION OF #1 SPOT IN BOTH POLLS
The Notre Dame men's and women's fencing teams have claimed sole possession of the respective #1 spots in the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association national polls (as announced on Feb. 19). The Irish men previously had shared the top spot with Penn State, while the ND women were second in the initial Jan. 23 poll (behind PSU). The full poll is listed below, as is the season-opening 2009 USFCA poll.
Most of the other movement in the polls went as expected – with the University of Pennsylvania (now #6), St. John's (#7) and Duke (#8) each moving up two spots in the men's poll, while the Penn women made the biggest jump (from #9 to #6) and any team, men or women. Harvard (now #4) and St. John's (#9) also climbed up the women's poll.
Other teams currently ranked in the men's poll include Penn State (#2), Ohio State (#3), Columbia (#5), Princeton (#6), Harvard (#9) and Stanford (#10). The other ranked women's teams are PSU (#2), OSU (#3), Columbia (#5), Northwestern (#7), Temple (#8) and Princeton (#10).
This marks the first time since the 2004 season-opening poll that both Notre Dame fencing teams have been ranked #1. At least one of the Irish fencing teams has held sole possession of the top ranking in eight of the past nine seasons (2001-06, '08-'09). The Notre Dame women now have been ranked #1 in five of the past six years (all but '07), while this marks the first time since 2004 that the ND men have held sole possession of the top ranking.
The NOTRE DAME men ended the 2009 regular season undefeated (33-0) for the 21st time in the ND men's fencing program's history and first time since 2003 (24-0). The Irish defeated nine top-10 opponents – Penn State, Ohio State (2), Columbia (2), Stanford, St. John's (2) and North Carolina (former co-#10) – during their undefeated regular season. The 33 wins are the most ever in a season, by any Notre Dame fencing team (men's or women's).
The Notre Dame women ended the regular season with a 32-2 record, tying the program record for wins in a season. The Irish women suffered both of their losses by 14-13 scores at the first-week NYU Duals (vs. top-5 foes Ohio State and Columbia), but they ultimately turned in eight wins over teams that have been ranked in the top-10 this season (Penn State, Ohio State, Columbia, Northwestern twice, Temple, and St. John's twice).
The PENN STATE men (12-3) have suffered losses to Penn (10-17), Notre Dame (13-14) and Ohio State (11-16), with noteworthy wins over Princeton, Harvard, Duke and UNC. The PSU women (13-1) dropped a 9-18 match to ND (at the Northwestern Duals), but they own a series of top wins over Ohio State, Penn, Northwestern, Temple and Duke (formerly #10). Both Nittany Lions squads will wrap up their regular-season bouting this weekend, as the host school for a Feb. 21 quad meet (also featuring St. John's, Duke and Temple).
Both OHIO STATE teams have maintained their #3 rankings, with the OSU men (32-2) ending their regular season with only two losses the Notre Dame (both 12-15) as blemishes on their record. The Buckeye men in recent weeks have posted key wins over Penn State, Columbia twice, St. John's twice, Harvard, Stanford and UNC. The OSU women (26-5) own top victories over ND, Northwestern twice, Temple and St. John's twice – with their losses coming against ND (10-17), PSU (10-17), Columbia (10-17, 12-15) and Harvard (12-15).
The PENN men (15-0) – who are in the driver's seat to win the Ivy League title this weekend – have turned in five wins over top-10 opponents this season, with notable upsets of Penn State (17-10), Columbia (18-9) and Princeton (17-10), along with victories over Duke and UNC. At first glance, the rise up the poll by the Penn women (12-4) is more surprising. The Quaker women jumped over Northwestern, Princeton and Temple in the poll, despite going 1-2 vs. those teams (win over Temple; 12-15 losses to the Wildcats and Tigers). The Penn women also own a win over Duke, with their other losses coming against Penn State (6-21) and Columbia (8-19).
Both ST. JOHN'S squads were ranked low in the season-opening polls (most likely due to losing several key fencers from the '08 teams), but each has made a move up the rankings. The SJU men (8-6) overcame a couple of tough losses early in the season (13-14 vs. Boston College, 12-15 vs. Yale) to register a pair of impressive victories over Columbia (18-19) and Harvard (14-13), with the Red Storm men's other losses coming against ND and OSU (two each). The St. John's women (8-7) have one marquee win (15-12 vs. Columbia, while their losses have come against ND (2), OSU, Columbia (2), Harvard and Brandeis.
The St. John's teams could make a statement this weekend, at the Penn State Quad Meet (vs. PSU, Duke and Temple).
See the CF360 blog for recent (and future) in-depth information about the other top-10 Ivy League teams. We look forward to seeing how the Columbia and Harvard men's teams perform, following several weeks of inconsistent results by both squads (causing each to drop in the national poll). The blog also will be providing season overviews for other top-10 teams not mentioned above (Duke and Stanford men; Northwestern and Temple women).
CollegeFencing360 will have additional analysis of the nation's top teams and individuals over the next few weeks, as we near the NCAA Championships in mid-March.
2009 USFCA College Fencing Coaches Poll (poll #2; Feb. 19)
MEN (previous rank)
1. Notre Dame (t-1)
2. Penn State (t-1)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Pennsylvania (6)
5. Columbia (4)
6. Princeton (5)
7. St. John's (9)
8. Duke (10)
9. Harvard (7)
10. Stanford (8)
Others receiving votes (in order) -- North Carolina, NYU and Yale (tied), Brandeis, Wayne State, Air Force, Drew, MIT, UC-San Diego, Boston College and Johns Hopkins (tied), Brown, Vassar.
WOMEN (previous rank)
1. Notre Dame (2)
2. Penn State (1)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Harvard (5)
5. Columbia (4)
6. Pennsylvania (9)
7. Northwestern (6)
8. Temple (8)
9. St. John's (–)
10. Princeton (7)
Others receiving votes (in order) -- Duke, NYU, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Brandeis nd North Carolina (tied), Cornell, Brown, UC-San Diego and Wayne State (tied)
• • • • • •
2009 USFCA College Fencing Coaches Poll (poll #1; Jan. 23)
MEN
1. Penn State
t. Notre Dame
3. Ohio State
4. Columbia
5. Princeton
6. Pennsylvania
7. Harvard
t. Stanford
9. St. John's
10. Duke
t. North Carolina
Others receiving votes (in order) -- NYU and Yale (tied), Brandeis, Wayne State, Air Force, Drew and MIT (tied), UC-San Diego, Boston College and Johns Hopkins (tied), Brown, Vassar.
WOMEN (previous rank)
1. Penn State
2. Notre Dame
3. Ohio State
4. Columbia
5. Harvard
6. Northwestern
7. Princeton
8. Temple
9. Pennsylvania
10. Duke
Others receiving votes (in order) -- St. John's, Stanford, North Carolina, Brandeis, NYU, Cornell and Wayne State (tied), UC-San Diego (Air Force, Brown, Drew and Yale all tied)