University of North Carolina Athletics
Georgina Summers and Justine de Grasse
Photo by: ACC
GoHeels Exclusive: Women's Fencing Surprises, Olympic Sports Notes
February 26, 2018 | General, Fencing, Featured Writers
by Pat James, GoHeels.com
This, by no means, was expected.
That wasn't the case Saturday, when Georgina Summers and Justine de Grasse became the first pair of North Carolina fencers to medal at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, winning silver and bronze, respectively, in women's epee. It didn't even seem likely midway through Sunday's women's team competition.
But for the first time in UNC women's fencing program history, the Tar Heels claimed the ACC title, beating Duke for the first since 2015 and then defeating the Blue Devils and Notre Dame, the defending NCAA champion, in a fence-off.
And in large part, they have Summers, the ACC Women's Championship MVP, to thank.
UNC opened the day with a 14-13 win over Duke. That seemed like it would be the highlight of the day for the Tar Heels, especially after they fell to Notre Dame. But the Blue Devils knocked off the Fighting Irish, leaving the three schools tied at 2-1, with each also beating fourth-seeded Boston College.
That prompted the fence-off.
Each team selected one fencer from each weapon to compete in best two-out-of-three five-touch bouts. And in the epee, UNC picked Summers, a sophomore in her first year on the team.
She led off the opening extra-session match against Duke with a 5-3 decision over Claudia Wrampelmeier. Moments later, Jackie Litynski defeated Jennifer Ling in the sabre, 5-3, sending the Tar Heels into the final fence-off against Notre Dame.
Summers again handed the Tar Heels momentum. Facing Notre Dame's Amanda Sirico, the defending NCAA champion and the fencer who outlasted Summers for ACC gold on Saturday, Summers won 5-2.
Her victory was shortly followed by Litynski's 5-4 win over Francesca Russo. And in the aftermath of the bout, UNC celebrated its first ACC fencing title since 1980.
Baseball loses East Carolina series
After splitting the first two games of its three-game series against East Carolina, the baseball team lost 12-0 Sunday, snapping its streak of 11 straight series wins.
The Tar Heels recorded 10 hits during Saturday's 5-4 win at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. In the other two games, both losses, the Tar Heels registered just five total hits, with two coming Friday and three coming Sunday.
Cherry finds shooting touch
Playing in the final two regular-season games of her UNC career, Jamie Cherry shook her recent shooting slump in the women's basketball team's losses against Syracuse and Duke.
Cherry entered the week shooting 22.4 percent (15-for-67) from the field over her last five games. But in her Senior Night game against Syracuse on Thursday and at Duke on Sunday, she shot 42.9 percent (12-for-28).
She averaged 21.5 points across both games. In the process, she surpassed Cetera DeGraffenreid on the school's all-time scoring list and moved into 19th place.
Kelly honors former coach, shines
Wearing No. 18 in honor of his high school coach and former Johns Hopkins midfielder Dave Huntley – who passed away in December from a heart attack – Timmy Kelly scored a career-high four goals to lead the men's lacrosse team to a 13-11 victory at Johns Hopkins.
Kelly had scored just one goal through the first three periods. But with the score tied at 9, he tallied three straight in the fourth period, giving the Tar Heels their first lead and one they wouldn't relinquish.
Behind him, UNC won its fifth straight game against the Blue Jays at Homewood Field.
Ortega proves key in overtime
Named the top incoming freshman attacker in the nation by Inside Lacrosse, Jamie Ortega has lived up to that billing through her first four games with the women's lacrosse team.
In the Tar Heels' 16-15 overtime win against top-ranked Maryland, Ortega scored four goals. She also added a career-high two assists, including one on Marie McCool's game-winning goal just 43 seconds into extra time.
The performance was Ortega's third straight with at least three goals. During that span, she's scored on 60 percent of her shots.
McBryan breaks school record
In his final time competing at the ACC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships, senior co-captain Michael McBryan might have secured an invitation to his first NCAA Championships.
On Friday, McBryan earned the first podium finish of his career at the ACC Championships, finishing third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 52.70. He followed that performance up Saturday, when he broke his previous school record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:54.66. He placed fifth in the event.
McBryan also competed in the 400-yard medley relay. He, Alvin Jiang, Greg Brocato and J.T. Casey took seventh in the event with a time of 3:10.35.
Ramsey stays hot at the plate
After a 5-2 start to the season, the softball team has lost eight straight games, including all five it played at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, held Thursday-Saturday in Cathedral City, Calif.
Still, UNC has continued receiving consistent production from Kiani Ramsey.
Ramsey, who transferred from Texas Tech, went 0-for-2 in Thursday's 10-0 loss against No. 13 Arizona, which limited the Tar Heels to just one hit. But in the four games that followed, she went 6-for-12, raising her team-best batting average to .395.
Graham, Daavettila remain unbeaten
Although the top-ranked women's tennis team fell 4-3 against No. 7 Vanderbilt on Sunday, handing UNC its first loss of the season, Alexa Graham and Sara Daavettila remained undefeated in dual matches this spring.
Graham, ranked No. 93 in singles, defeated No. 120 Emma Kurtz 6-3, 6-4. No. 28 Daavettila shortly followed, coming back and knocking off No. 24 Christina Rosca 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
With their wins, both improved to 12-0 in dual matches this spring.
Greene, Keefer claim ACC titles
In her previous four ACC Track & Field Championship appearances, Nicole Greene had come close to claiming an ACC title, only to finish as the runner-up three times and in third once.
But during an already well-decorated junior season, Greene finally captured that elusive conference championship in the high jump, tying her personal best of 6 feet, 2 inches (1.88 meters). She's the Tar Heels' first ACC champion in the indoor high jump since Patience Coleman in 2011.
Freshman Anna Keefer also claimed an ACC title. After leading the conference in the long jump throughout the majority of the season, she leapt a personal-best 20-2½ (6.16 meters). The jump matched the third best by a freshman in the NCAA this season.
This, by no means, was expected.
That wasn't the case Saturday, when Georgina Summers and Justine de Grasse became the first pair of North Carolina fencers to medal at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, winning silver and bronze, respectively, in women's epee. It didn't even seem likely midway through Sunday's women's team competition.
But for the first time in UNC women's fencing program history, the Tar Heels claimed the ACC title, beating Duke for the first since 2015 and then defeating the Blue Devils and Notre Dame, the defending NCAA champion, in a fence-off.
And in large part, they have Summers, the ACC Women's Championship MVP, to thank.
UNC opened the day with a 14-13 win over Duke. That seemed like it would be the highlight of the day for the Tar Heels, especially after they fell to Notre Dame. But the Blue Devils knocked off the Fighting Irish, leaving the three schools tied at 2-1, with each also beating fourth-seeded Boston College.
That prompted the fence-off.
Each team selected one fencer from each weapon to compete in best two-out-of-three five-touch bouts. And in the epee, UNC picked Summers, a sophomore in her first year on the team.
She led off the opening extra-session match against Duke with a 5-3 decision over Claudia Wrampelmeier. Moments later, Jackie Litynski defeated Jennifer Ling in the sabre, 5-3, sending the Tar Heels into the final fence-off against Notre Dame.
Summers again handed the Tar Heels momentum. Facing Notre Dame's Amanda Sirico, the defending NCAA champion and the fencer who outlasted Summers for ACC gold on Saturday, Summers won 5-2.
Her victory was shortly followed by Litynski's 5-4 win over Francesca Russo. And in the aftermath of the bout, UNC celebrated its first ACC fencing title since 1980.
Baseball loses East Carolina series
After splitting the first two games of its three-game series against East Carolina, the baseball team lost 12-0 Sunday, snapping its streak of 11 straight series wins.
The Tar Heels recorded 10 hits during Saturday's 5-4 win at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. In the other two games, both losses, the Tar Heels registered just five total hits, with two coming Friday and three coming Sunday.
Cherry finds shooting touch
Playing in the final two regular-season games of her UNC career, Jamie Cherry shook her recent shooting slump in the women's basketball team's losses against Syracuse and Duke.
Cherry entered the week shooting 22.4 percent (15-for-67) from the field over her last five games. But in her Senior Night game against Syracuse on Thursday and at Duke on Sunday, she shot 42.9 percent (12-for-28).
She averaged 21.5 points across both games. In the process, she surpassed Cetera DeGraffenreid on the school's all-time scoring list and moved into 19th place.
Kelly honors former coach, shines
Wearing No. 18 in honor of his high school coach and former Johns Hopkins midfielder Dave Huntley – who passed away in December from a heart attack – Timmy Kelly scored a career-high four goals to lead the men's lacrosse team to a 13-11 victory at Johns Hopkins.
Kelly had scored just one goal through the first three periods. But with the score tied at 9, he tallied three straight in the fourth period, giving the Tar Heels their first lead and one they wouldn't relinquish.
Behind him, UNC won its fifth straight game against the Blue Jays at Homewood Field.
Ortega proves key in overtime
Named the top incoming freshman attacker in the nation by Inside Lacrosse, Jamie Ortega has lived up to that billing through her first four games with the women's lacrosse team.
In the Tar Heels' 16-15 overtime win against top-ranked Maryland, Ortega scored four goals. She also added a career-high two assists, including one on Marie McCool's game-winning goal just 43 seconds into extra time.
The performance was Ortega's third straight with at least three goals. During that span, she's scored on 60 percent of her shots.
McBryan breaks school record
In his final time competing at the ACC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships, senior co-captain Michael McBryan might have secured an invitation to his first NCAA Championships.
On Friday, McBryan earned the first podium finish of his career at the ACC Championships, finishing third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 52.70. He followed that performance up Saturday, when he broke his previous school record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:54.66. He placed fifth in the event.
McBryan also competed in the 400-yard medley relay. He, Alvin Jiang, Greg Brocato and J.T. Casey took seventh in the event with a time of 3:10.35.
Ramsey stays hot at the plate
After a 5-2 start to the season, the softball team has lost eight straight games, including all five it played at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, held Thursday-Saturday in Cathedral City, Calif.
Still, UNC has continued receiving consistent production from Kiani Ramsey.
Ramsey, who transferred from Texas Tech, went 0-for-2 in Thursday's 10-0 loss against No. 13 Arizona, which limited the Tar Heels to just one hit. But in the four games that followed, she went 6-for-12, raising her team-best batting average to .395.
Graham, Daavettila remain unbeaten
Although the top-ranked women's tennis team fell 4-3 against No. 7 Vanderbilt on Sunday, handing UNC its first loss of the season, Alexa Graham and Sara Daavettila remained undefeated in dual matches this spring.
Graham, ranked No. 93 in singles, defeated No. 120 Emma Kurtz 6-3, 6-4. No. 28 Daavettila shortly followed, coming back and knocking off No. 24 Christina Rosca 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
With their wins, both improved to 12-0 in dual matches this spring.
Greene, Keefer claim ACC titles
In her previous four ACC Track & Field Championship appearances, Nicole Greene had come close to claiming an ACC title, only to finish as the runner-up three times and in third once.
But during an already well-decorated junior season, Greene finally captured that elusive conference championship in the high jump, tying her personal best of 6 feet, 2 inches (1.88 meters). She's the Tar Heels' first ACC champion in the indoor high jump since Patience Coleman in 2011.
Freshman Anna Keefer also claimed an ACC title. After leading the conference in the long jump throughout the majority of the season, she leapt a personal-best 20-2½ (6.16 meters). The jump matched the third best by a freshman in the NCAA this season.
Players Mentioned
Epee/Right Hand
/ Fencing
Sabre/Right Hand
/ Fencing
Epee/Left Hand
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