Elizabeth Weber 
Northwestern - Fencing - 1996-2000 

At Northwestern, there is a group dedicated to women's athletics called Center Court. My first contact with them was when they met us as we were leaving on my first travel competition to Iowa in 1996. They brought us goodie bags and cheered for us as we drove away. I was taken aback that these ladies would give such support to an obscure sport like fencing. But there they were, year after year, wearing purple and bearing goodie bags as we went off to bigger and more distant meets.

My time on Northwestern's fencing team encompassed a number of milestones, including the introduction of fencing scholarships, Coach Schiller being named Coach of the Year on both conference and national levels and back-to-back conference titles. Through it all, Center Court's support never waned, and their spirit and enthusiasm made us that much keener to do well in competition. I will never forget their kindness.

After securing coach Laurie Schiller's 700th career win at a meet in Detroit, we decided to have a celebratory dinner in Windsor, Canada. However, when we were crossing the border, we were told that Akbar, a club team foil fencer who was born in Pakistan, wasn't allowed to enter the country. He was a good sport about it. He told us to enjoy our dinner and left the bus, egg-salad sandwich in hand. Our trip to Canada lasted as long as it took our bus driver to find a place to turn around. When Akbar joined us on the bus again, we sang a song to greet him and had dinner at a Detroit T.G.I. Friday's instead. When we got back to school, he wrote the team and coaches a beautiful e-mail about how touched he was that we had come back for him. I think we all understood that leaving him behind was never an option.

Big Ten 25 Years of Women's Championships

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