Miller, Litynski Earn ACC Honors
March 21, 2018 | Fencing
GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina sophomore Jackie Litynski was named Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Sabre Fencer of the Year and coach Ron Miller was honored as both the ACC Men's and Women's Fencing Coach of the Year as the conference announced its year-end honors on Wednesday.
The awards were determined by a vote of the league's four head coaches.
"I'm very honored," Miller said. "It was a good year for us, but I feel like all of the coaches were worthy. I'm honored to be singled out. I didn't expect this."
The UNC men's and women's teams combined for 55 wins in 2017-18, the most in program history, putting Miller's overall wins total at 1,553 in his 51 seasons as head coach. He led the Tar Heels to the 2018 ACC Women's Fencing Championship, the first in program history.
Litynski, a public policy and environmental science major from Niskayuna, N.Y., had both deciding wins as the Tar Heels beat Duke and Notre Dame in a fence-off to win the ACC title. She finished the year with an 85-25 record and was seeded fifth in the region, the highest for UNC, heading into NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals.
She follows in the footsteps of her older sister, Gillian, who was the ACC Women's Sabre Fencer of the Year in 2015 as a Tar Heel senior. Jackie is just the second Tar Heel to earn the honor.
Duke, which won the ACC men's championship, swept the men's awards and also the women's foil honor. Notre Dame earned women's epee.
The Tar Heels' ACC title in 2018 was the first-ever for the women's program, as UNC upset nationally No. 1-ranked Notre Dame for the crown. The ACC did not hold a fencing championship from 1981 through 2014 and sponsored only men's fencing prior to that. Miller led Carolina to eight men's championships between 1971 and 1980.
He was named ACC Women's Fencing Coach of the Year for the second time. He also was honored in 2015, the first year of the women's championship.
"It was a very enjoyable year and one of the most enjoyable parts was having walk-ons on the team again," Miller said. "It had been a few years and this year we needed more depth and took six walk-ons on the women's team. Watching them learn the sport and be able to represent UNC has been very rewarding."
2018 ACC Fencing Awards
Men's Fencing
Fencer of the Year—Foil—Eoin Gronningsater, Duke, Sophomore, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fencer of the Year—Epee—Bryn Hammarberg, Duke, Junior, Maplewood, N.J.
Fencer of the Year—Sabre—Pascual Di Tella, Duke, Senior, Vincente Lopez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Coach of the Year—Ron Miller, North Carolina
Women's Fencing
Fencer of the Year—Foil—Rhiannon Harvey, Duke, Junior, Norfolk, Va.
Fencer of the Year—Epee—Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame, Junior, Bowie, Md.
Fencer of the Year—Sabre—Jackie Litynski, North Carolina, Sophomore, Niskayuna, N.Y.
Coach of the Year—Ron Miller, North Carolina
The awards were determined by a vote of the league's four head coaches.
"I'm very honored," Miller said. "It was a good year for us, but I feel like all of the coaches were worthy. I'm honored to be singled out. I didn't expect this."
The UNC men's and women's teams combined for 55 wins in 2017-18, the most in program history, putting Miller's overall wins total at 1,553 in his 51 seasons as head coach. He led the Tar Heels to the 2018 ACC Women's Fencing Championship, the first in program history.
Litynski, a public policy and environmental science major from Niskayuna, N.Y., had both deciding wins as the Tar Heels beat Duke and Notre Dame in a fence-off to win the ACC title. She finished the year with an 85-25 record and was seeded fifth in the region, the highest for UNC, heading into NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals.
She follows in the footsteps of her older sister, Gillian, who was the ACC Women's Sabre Fencer of the Year in 2015 as a Tar Heel senior. Jackie is just the second Tar Heel to earn the honor.
Duke, which won the ACC men's championship, swept the men's awards and also the women's foil honor. Notre Dame earned women's epee.
The Tar Heels' ACC title in 2018 was the first-ever for the women's program, as UNC upset nationally No. 1-ranked Notre Dame for the crown. The ACC did not hold a fencing championship from 1981 through 2014 and sponsored only men's fencing prior to that. Miller led Carolina to eight men's championships between 1971 and 1980.
He was named ACC Women's Fencing Coach of the Year for the second time. He also was honored in 2015, the first year of the women's championship.
"It was a very enjoyable year and one of the most enjoyable parts was having walk-ons on the team again," Miller said. "It had been a few years and this year we needed more depth and took six walk-ons on the women's team. Watching them learn the sport and be able to represent UNC has been very rewarding."
2018 ACC Fencing Awards
Men's Fencing
Fencer of the Year—Foil—Eoin Gronningsater, Duke, Sophomore, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fencer of the Year—Epee—Bryn Hammarberg, Duke, Junior, Maplewood, N.J.
Fencer of the Year—Sabre—Pascual Di Tella, Duke, Senior, Vincente Lopez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Coach of the Year—Ron Miller, North Carolina
Women's Fencing
Fencer of the Year—Foil—Rhiannon Harvey, Duke, Junior, Norfolk, Va.
Fencer of the Year—Epee—Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame, Junior, Bowie, Md.
Fencer of the Year—Sabre—Jackie Litynski, North Carolina, Sophomore, Niskayuna, N.Y.
Coach of the Year—Ron Miller, North Carolina
Players Mentioned
Sabre/Right Hand
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