Penn sends five fencers to NCAA tourney

Women's captainWomen's captainMegumi Sakae earnsWomen's captainMegumi Sakae earnsAll-American honors In any sport, it is an accomplishment for a team to send even a single athlete to the NCAA championships. But the Penn fencing team did even better, sending five of its athletes to the NCAAs -- Megumi Sakae, Nathan Anderson, Alex Edelman, Adam Brown and George Kalmar. On March 2, the Quakers placed fifth in the five-weapon Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championship – one of two NCAA-qualifying meets for Eastern schools. Five Quakers were selected to compete in the NCAA championships from March 29 to April 1, despite the Red and Blue's fifth-place finish at IFAs. Penn senior Megumi Sakae was the lone fencer selected from the women's team. The NCAA selection commitee awarded Sakae an at-large bid, although the team captain had a lackluster performance at IFAs and did not automatically qualify via postseason performance. "Megumi's IFA performance was disapointing, and she feared her career would go out on a terrible note," Micahnik said. "But she got an at-large bid to the NCAAs and her performance was a relief to her. The pressure was off. It was like Megumi was in a zone." Sakae won 17 matches in the NCAA tournament. Her stellar performance placed her fourth in the 24-woman foil field. It also earned Sakae first-team All-American honors in the foil. "Megumi is an excellent fencer," Penn senior fencer Sarah Johns said. "She really lead the team well the past year, and deserved the success. Hopefully, I'll see her again at some point." "Personally, since the first time I saw Megumi fence, I always looked up to her," Quakers junior epee Liz Cornfield said. "She was one of the most skilled fencers I've ever seen. She always kept her concentration and never got flustered. Even when she was losing, we all knew she was going to pull through." Sakae, however, attributed much of her success to Penn's coaching staff. Quakers men's captain Nathan Anderson was also chosen to compete in the NCAAs. Anderson has been chosen to compete in the NCAAs in each of his four seasons at Penn. "When I look back as a freshman, I did not think I would make the team, and then I made the NCAAs," Anderson said. "I was really excited. This year, as captain, I think I took the NCAAs for granted. But I am proud of what I have done, and it has been an incredible experience." Anderson's self-proclaimed incredible experience came to a fitting conclusion as he earned 12 victories at the NCAAs and returned home a third-team All-American. Adam Brown also competed in the men's foil at the NCAA championships. The junior foil placed 15th in the foil by earning nine victories. "Adam Brown is a great person who leads the team by example," Anderson said. "I always got along with him the best. If someone would beat me, Adam would come around and let him know we can beat him." Junior epee Alex Edelman also was honored with an NCAA selection. Edelman returned to Penn not only as a second team All-American, an honor in itself, but also the recipient of the Outstanding Fencer Award. The Outstanding Fencer Award is voted on by the competitors at the NCAAs. The award is presented to the fencer by his peers for performance, dedication, determination and demeanor. "Alex had some glitches early in the season, but beginning with the IFAs and NCAAs, Alex just found it," Micahnik said. "At the NCAAs, Alex did the best fencing of his career -- good spontanaity and good technique." Edelman was very pleased with his selection as the outstanding fencer. "Winning the Outstanding Fencer Award was my greatest accomplishment," Edelman said. "I was really touched and honored not only to be All-American, but chosen for this award. I will never forget it." Penn senior George Kalmar rounded out the Penn contingent at NCAAs. Kalmar, like Sakae, earned an at-large bid, after being unable to compete in the IFAs due to an ankle injury. "During his presence here, George Kalmar added a toughness -- kind of a temperament that certainly had an effect on the opponents. He set the tone in an agressive, domineering manner -- the necessary sabre manner." Although Kalmar had not fully recovered from his late-season injury, he managed nine victories and a 14th-place finish in the sabre. Kalmar hopes his toughness has embedded a work ethic in the younger fencers. "Out at practice, I was so competitive and hard on the kids," Kalmar said. "I hope they will remember how hard I pushed them to win. It was really fun. Although we didn't always reach our team goals, I reached my own goals. The coaches were great, and I hope the team keeps on working hard in the future." "Overall, I think it was a very good season," Penn freshman John Wright said. "We did really well and continued to get better. We've learned to rely on each other. Next year, we should do even better."

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