March 15, 2006

The Notre Dame sports hotline again will provide regular updates from all four days of the NCAA Fencing Championships, with the hotline to be updated several times each day (tentatively at the top of each hour, once bouting begins). To access the hotline, call (574) 631-3000, then select option "8" (for tennis and fencing ) followed by option "3" for fencing updates.

The women's bouts will be held on March 16-17, followed by the men's action on March 18-19. The 144-fencer field includes 24 men's and 24 women's fencers at each of three weapons (foil, epee, sabre). Fencers compete against the other 23 competitors in their respective weapons, with teams earning one point for each round-robin victory posted by a fencer from that team. The top four round-robin finishers in each weapon then will fence for the respective individual titles at the end of Friday (women) and Sunday's (men) round-robin competition (those results do not factor into the team scores). The top 12 finishers in each weapon receive All-America honors.

All bouts again will be held in Houston but at a different venue than in 2005, when Notre Dame claimed its seventh fencing team NCAA title at the downtown Brown Convention Center. The 2006 event is being held at the JW Marriott, located near the Galeria shopping mall complex.

The 2006 format also will differ slightly, with space limitations yielding fewer strips available in the facility. As a result, the foil and epee bouts will be held at the start of each day, followed by sabre (see schedule below).

Check back to und.com througout the week for complete coverage of Notre Dame's quest to repeat as the NCAA champion and win its third national title in the past four years.

2006 NCAA Fencing Championship Schedule (JW Marriott; Houston, Texas)

Thursday, March 16
10:00 a.m. - women's foil amd women's epee (round 1)
11:30 a.m - women's foil and women's epee (rounds 2-4)
3:00 p.m. - women's sabre (round 1)
4:00 p.m. - women's sabre (rounds 2-4)

Friday, March 17
9:00 a.m. - women's foil and women's epee (rounds 5-7)
12:15 p.m. - tournament ceremony
12:45 p.m. - women's foil and women's epee semifinals, final and third-place bout; women's sabre (rounds 5-7)
3:30 p.m. - women's sabre semifinals, final and third-place bout
4:30 p.m. - women's individual awards presentation

Saturday, March 18
10 a.m. - men's foil and men's epee (round 1)
11:30 a.m. - men's foil and men's epee (rounds 2-4)
3:00 p.m. - men's sabre (round 1)
4:00 p.m. - men's sabre (rounds 2-4)

Sunday, March 19
9:00 a.m. - men's foil and men's epee (rounds 5-7)
Noon - men's sabre (rounds 5-7); men's foil and men's epee semifinals, final and third-place bout
2:45 p.m. - men's sabre semifinals, final and third-place bout
3:30 p.m. - men's individual and team awards presentations