Coach Ron Miller Discusses the Fall Season
Jan. 16, 2008 Philadelphia, PA - In the midst of recruiting, dealing with student athlete eligibility, teaching three sections of fencing,and loads of paper work, UNC fencing coach Ron Miller took a moment out of his day to speak about his team's fall season. In his 41st season as the Tar Heels' head coach, the upbeat Maitre d'Armes and professor of Tar Heel fencing expresses an immense amount of admiration and support for his student athletes. "The main issue for the first half of the season was that we had a number of interesting eligibility issues. Two of our top fencers in men's epee, both of which have been to NCAAs, were ineligible for the entire fall season," states Miller. "Some of our top athletes were not competing with us in the fall, so the men's team was a little inconsistent, especially in epee. All in all, though, the men's team is not doing badly, especially considering the level of competition we've already faced." The men's team finished their fall season with a record of 4-5, competing in the Haverford and Princeton Duals. Coach Miller adds, "We could've been a little better. Two or three of the meets we lost were 14-13 and that's frustrating. On the other side of it, Benton Heimsath and Joe Pipkin are now back with us, which should help our teams immensely, both in terms of results and leadership. The expectations we had for the men's team when we started out the year are still there. We still believe that it should be one of the strongest men's teams we've ever had." However, Miller acknowledges that everyone else in the country is also a little stronger than they've been in the past. There are more clubs across the country and far more high school programs with solid coaching, so the level of athletes coming out of the high school and club programs are much better.
Miller notes, "We will make progress throughout the season. We've made marked improvement this fall. The women defeated some very good schools, and soundly. They also did a very good job against Princeton. It was a very rewarding fall for the women's team." Miller is looking forward to a spring season that is slightly less hectic. After some difficult eligibility issues and the graduation of several key athletes, the team is looking forward to a smoother spring. "We don't have any ineligible team members. It's a young team, and they are learning to work together. Our original expectation for the women's team this fall were high, but maybe not as high as the men, but in the fall the women outperformed the men. They will continue to improve, and the men obviously will improve as well. The key thing we were missing on the men's team is experienced leadership, but they've grown alot this fall as a result," Miller says. Miller is optimistic about the rest of the season, as the Tar Heels look to improve upon last year's 13th place finish at NCAA Championships. He notes, "Another thing that bodes well for us is that we have consistency, meaning that in a couple of meets a lot of the young fencers really stepped up, but the biggest thing for the freshmen is having the role models back and that will make a big difference as we move ahead." The Tar Heels will next see action at the Penn State Duals on January 26th and at the Johns Hopkins Duals on the 27th. Competitor List for the Philadelphia duals: Women's Foil: Katie Williamson, May-Lynne Chen-Contino, Meredith Peck, Hannah Thurman, Jessica Wacker, Marion Boulicault Women's Epee: Claire Brandow, Melissa Litschi, Christina Abruzzini, Breta Kotkin, Helen Marino Women's Sabre: Monica Kim, Jennifer Clark, Jennifer Sawicki, Patti Sanders, Mary Borgo
Men's Foil: Jamie Lawrence, Alex Grigorenko, Nate Seaman, Noah Seymore, David Skwerer Men's Epee: Jarrett Rodrigues, Benton Heimsath, Erich Hsieh, Ben Gellis, Jacob Mader Men's Sabre: John Powell, Bobby Ziechmann, Kevin Ziechmann, Will Randolph, David Winer Women's Results form the Philadelphia Duals: 3-2
Men's Results Philadelphia Duals: 2-1
Coach Miller comments on the outstanding Tar Heel fencers at the Philadelphia dual meet. When it comes to the women's performance on Sunday, coach Miller notes, "generally speaking, Patti Sanders was our most consistent performer this weekend, both with her energy and her results. However, we had several women who really worked hard this weekend and saw good results. Our women's sabre squad in particular, did very well. In foil, May-Lynne Chen-Contino did a great job for us and in epee, both Breta Kotkin and Claire Brandow had excellent records. Although we lost to Northwestern in meets, the women fenced fairly well. We were a little inconsistent against Penn. Sacred Heart provided some good competition for us and we did a solid job against them. All in all, we got better competitively and also made some progress towards qualifying many of our athletes for the post-season." "The men as a team accomplished what we expected to. We had strong performances against Penn for the men, despite the loss. Against Johns Hopkins and Sacred Heart, we showed very good efforts and pulled out some close bouts. It was great to have senior epee fencer Benton Heimsath back, after some frustrating eligibility issues in the first half of the season. He is a strong leader and his presence makes a difference for our men's squads. We are also glad to have John Powell back in action, as he spent last semester studying in Egypt. Junior Bobby Ziechmann had excellent results this weekend. He had a very high winning percentage on the day. All in all, we were pleased with our men's efforts and see them improving exponentially." When it was all said and done, coach Miller states, "we were still a little inconsistent, but improving." The Tar Heel will next see action on Saturday, January 26th when they visit Happy Valley and participate in the Penn State duals. On Sunday the 27th UNC will travel to Baltimore and fence in the Johns Hopkins dual meet. |
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