March 24, 2002

MADISON, N.J. - The fencing team from the University of North Carolina finished its 2001-02 season Sunday afternoon with a 26th place finish at the NCAA Championships. The Championships were hosted by Drew University.

The Tar Heels had only one participant in the championships--Wesley Newkirk. He won seven points for the team in the men's sabre competition and those points allowed the Tar Heels to tie for 26th place in the team standings with Boston College. Penn State won the NCAA championship with 195 points.

Fencing is conducted as one of the NCAA championships held on a coed basis with schools' men's and women's teams combining for the overall finish. Skiing and rifle are also conducted as coed championship events.