Istvan Danosi/Michigan Open results in .doc

Across town at Wayne State University, the UDM men's and women's fencing squads competed at the Istvan Danosi/Michigan Open, where four Titan fencers earned podium finishes, led by sophomore Michael Purdy-Sachs (Port Huron, MI/Home School), who claimed first in the men's foil.

Purdy-Sachs' finish was an improvement on his second-place finish at the same event in 2008. Three other fencers for Detroit tied for third place. Senior Doug Sollman (Sterling Hts., MI/Stevenson) tied for third in the men's sabre for the second consecutive season, senior Ashlee McLemore (Detroit, MI/Renaissance) tied for third in the women's sabre which she won at the event last year, and current Titans assistant coach Craig Budzynski competed for Detroit and placed third in the men's foil competition.

Purdy-Sachs and Budzynski each earned “A09” ratings for their efforts. Fencer ratings are classified from “A” through “E,” with “A” being the highest rating and corresponding with place finish at a specific tournament, followed by a two-digit rating representing the year in which the rating was earned.

A trio of newcomers saw competition for the first time in their careers in the men's epee event. Junior Tim Nelson (Riverview, MI/Gabriel Richard) led the way for Detroit with a ninth-place finish, freshman Martin Tomaj (Farmington Hill, MI/Farmington) took 11th and freshman Clint Mikek (St. Louis, MI/St. Louis) was 12th.

Also competing in his first ever fencing tournament, freshman Jared Sivec (Macomb, MI/Dakota) placed 14th in the event's largest field, the men's foil, behind fellow Titans Purdy-Sachs and Budzynski. And in the men's sabre field, senior Dan Bingham (St. Clair Shores, MI/Fraser) fenced his way to an 11th-place finish while junior Tom Lorenzo (Avon, OH/St. Ignatius) took 13th.

Senior Ashley Colbert (Washington, MI/Romeo) bettered her ninth-place finish from last year and finished fifth on Saturday in the women's foil. She was followed by sophomore Megan McMahon (Macomb, MI/Dakota) in 10th and sophomore Brittany Cook (Burton, MI/Owosso), who improved to 12th-place after taking 13th in 2008.

Sophomore Samantha LaFrance (Macomb, MI/Dakota) captured a fifth-place finish in the women's sabre after not competing at Istvan Danosi a year ago, and rookie fencer Olivia Furnas (Macomb, MI/Dakota) finished 15th, seeing the first action of her career.

Three Titans will be in action again tomorrow as Purdy-Saches, Budzynski and junior Brad Coon (Jenison, MI/Hudsonville) will travel to Pittsburgh, PA to compete in the USFA North American “C” Cup, a non-NCAA event.