NCAA Format

[Peach]

My daughter is fencing in the NCAAs and since my husband has a day or two sort of free, he was planning to drive over and watch. My question is, what the heck is the format? Apparently there's a round robin of 24 fencers followed by DEs for the top four, but I can't figure out how that's split over the two days. Do they have 23 bouts the first day and then just the finals the second day? It says semi-finals start at 10:00 with finals at 2:20. That doesn't seem logical but that's what it looks like. It wouldn't be worth my going over for the second day (I'm free Friday, but not Thursday) if that's the case.

Has anyone been in these things or been a parent at one, and can tell me what the heck happens?

[Philistine]

I've never been, but from the<a href="http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbooks/fencing/2002/2002_fencing.pdf" target="_blank">NCAA 2002 Fencing Championship Handbook</a>:
[quote]
2002 NCAA Fencing Championships Schedule – Twelve Strips
We d n e s d a y, March 2 0
2 p.m. National committee meeting and site inspection
3 p.m. National committee meeting with armorer
4-7 p.m. Equipment check; fencing room open for practice
7 p.m. Mandatory coaches meeting (Women’s weapons)
Thursday, March 21
8-10 a.m. Equipment check
8:30 a.m. Training Room opens
9 a.m. Referee meeting
9:30 a.m. National Anthem
10 a.m.-noon Women’s Foil, rounds 1-4
Women’s Épée, rounds 1-4
Women’s Sabre, rounds 1-4
Friday, March 22
7:30 a.m. Training Room opens
8-10 a.m. Equipment check
10 a.m. Women’s Épée, rounds 5-7
Women’s Foil, rounds 5-7
Women’s Sabre, rounds 5-7
(Six semifinal bouts will be fenced concurrently.
These bouts will be followed, after a 10-minute
break, by the three third-place bouts)
1 p.m. Mandatory coaches meeting (Men’s weapons)
2 p.m. Opening Ceremonies
National Anthem
2:30 p.m. Women’s Finals
(The three first-place bouts will be fenced on one
strip in the order of sabre, foil and épée.)
Women’s individual awards presentation (Immediately
following finals).
7:30 p.m. Championships banquet

* * *

For an eight-strip schedule of events, see Appendix E.
For a strip layout diagram, see Appendix H.
<hr></blockquote>

--Philistine

[edew]

The twenty four fencers are grouped into eight teams of three. They fence among themselves first (because teammates are pooled together, if possible). Then they fence a standard dual-meet format: the three fencers in one group fence the three fencers in another group in five-touch bouts. There is no "team" victory for the group, although each group certainly wants to be the victor.

On day one, women's events in foil, sabre, and epee (say, the actual weapon/sex changes from year to year) will do the self-team and four of the seven team bouts. The next day, they'll do the remaining three of team bouts and the top four finalists do the DE (fifteen point) bouts.
The third day will be the first day for the men's. The fourth day will be the second day for the men's, both repeating women's schedule.

[Peach]

Thanks, guys!