The Midwest Fencing Conference Championships kicked off with the individual competition Saturday at the University of Notre Dame, and four UDM women posted top 30 finishes.

Senior Ashlee McLemore (Detroit, MI/Renaissance) continued to lead the charge for the Titans, fencing her way to an 18th-place finish the sabre competition. After a 5-1 showing in pool fencing, McLemore was victorious in her first direct elimination bout before falling 15-11 in the second round. Her finish was her second-highest at the MFC Championships after placing 25th in 2008 and 13th a year ago.

Not far behind in the sabre competition was sophomore Samantha LaFrance (Macomb, MI/Dakota). LaFrance posted a 3-3 mark in pool action before squeaking out a 15-14 win in direct elimination, but her day ended in the second round with a 15-8 loss. Freshman Olivia Furnas (Macomb, MI/Dakota) rounded out the Titan women's effort in the sabre with a 46th-place showing after going 1-6 on the day.

The Titans received finishes just four places apart from sophomore Brittany Cook (Burton, MI/Owosso) and senior Ashley Colbert (Washington, MI/Romeo) in the foil competition. Cook improved by 15 places from last season to place 22nd on Saturday. She started her day by posting a 4-2 mark in her pool, and following a first round bye Cook notched a 15-4 victory, but suffered a 15-3 setback in the third round of direct elimination.

Colbert, after placing 34th each of the last two seasons, went 3-3 in pool action and advanced to through the first two rounds of direct elimination, ending her day in 26th place.

After having missed much of the season due to illness, sophomore Megan McMahon (Macomb, MI/Dakota) was back in action Saturday in the foil, going 1-6 on the day and finishing in 53rd.

Sunday morning the Titans will be back in action for the team competition, when McLemore, LaFrance and Furnas will compete as a sabre team while Cook, Colbert and McMahon will take to the strip in the team foil event, with action kicking off at 8:00 a.m.