The Northwestern women’s fencing team spent the weekend in Salt Lake City as they wrapped up their season in the USA Division I National Championships. The Wildcats sent seven fencers to compete in Utah, and one first-year fencer Julia Falinska to Poland to compete in the Junior World Championships.

Alexis Browne was the sole Wildcat who competed in saber on Friday and finished 61st after going 1-5 in her bouts. On Saturday Alyssa Chen, Amy Jia and Jerrica Liao all competed as a team in the foil team competition, where they placed sixth. Chen and Jia later competed individually for foil on Monday: Chen took 38th, while Jia ended 63rd.

On Sunday Ella Lombard, Maggie Snider and Pauline Hamilton each competed individually in epeé. Lombard placed highest of all ’Cats at 21st, with Snider at 43rd and Hamilton at 56th. As a trio, Lombard, Snider and Hamilton placed third in the Division I epeé event.

The final tournament ended an impressive season for the Wildcats. With a record of 39-5, Northwestern was ranked fifth in the country at the end of the season. During the Elite Invitational in November, they beat then No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State, No. 6 Princeton and No. 7 Penn, losing only to second-ranked Notre Dame.

In January the fencing team also won the Philadelphia Invitational and beat No. 3 Columbia and No. 10 Temple. The Wildcats won the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships for the second year in a row in February and had three All-American honors in March. The women’s fencing team starred in yet another strong year and may see an even stronger season next year with the developing talent on the squad.