March 16, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Junior sabreist Kristine Jones, freshman sabreist Christie Griffith and freshman foilist Melissa Parker have been tabbed regional selections for the NCAA Championships to be held in Madison, NJ from March 22 - 25.

"Coach [Bradley] Baker and I are very pleased with the selection of Kristine, Christie and Melissa," said Temple head coach Nikki Franke. "This is going to be a wonderful experience as it is the first NCAA finals for each of them."

Jones, Griffith and Parker were selected from the top seven fencers per their respective weapons.

After the top seven fencers, per weapon, from the region were selected, the eighth and ninth-ranked are placed in a pool with the remaining three regions. From these eight competitors, two at-large selections are made in each weapon.

While junior foilist Samantha Myles, sophomore epeeist Melissa Forsythe and freshman epeeist Kristin Howell advanced to the at-large pool, but were not selected, Franke couldn't help asserting the promising future laying in front of Temple fencing.

"We were very close to getting a full team to the NCAA finals, but our team is young and our future is very bright," said the Cherry and White mentor. "We have no seniors, so everyone will be back next year. Having another year of experience under our belt will make us that much stronger next season."

The Cherry and White take flight for Madison, NJ and the NCAA Championships on Thursday, March 22 until Sunday, March 25.