Swordswomen's Neuhardt Qualifies For Nationals

It's been a long wait, but Amy Neuhardt, the captain of the Harvard women's fencing team is finally going to the NCAA championships.

The senior and her teammate, Michelle Kosch, were two of only 24 fencers invited to yesterday's NCAA Regional competition at St. John's College in New York.

Neuhardt came in third to qualify for nationals, to be held March 21-23 at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Kosch, fencing with an injured knee, finished 12th.

Each fencer fought a grueling 15 bouts. Neuhardt was 9-6 for the day. Kosch finished 7-8.

"We did really well," Neuhardt said. "Neither of us really had qualified for the semifinals before. This year both of us qualified for the semifinal round, and one of us qualified for the final round and the NCAA Championships. It was more than what we expected."

"I didn't expect much," concurred Kosch, who has been absent from many practices in the second half of this season due to her knee injury.

Neuhardt is the only the second woman to qualify for the NCAA championships in Harvard fencing history. Penelope Papailias '89, the captain of the Harvard team for three years, qualified four times in her fencing career with Harvard. She reached 10th in the tournament twice.