Fencers place seventh at NCAAs

Despite sending no one from the men's foil team, Penn placed seventh. Last weekend, seven members of the Penn fencing team overcame injuries, a broken-down van and the absence of some of the team's strongest fencers to emerge from the NCAA Championships at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., as the No. 7 fencing team in the nation. Four of the seven Quakers who competed received official recognition for their performance. Fencers were invited to the NCAAs based on their finish at the NCAA regionals the first weekend in March. "Going in, I thought that we had to be in the top 10," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "It's a matter of pride." Once again, Penn State took first place in dominating fashion. The Nittany Lions have now won the last five NCAA championships. With 171 points, Penn State outdistanced second-place Notre Dame, which finished with 139 points. Penn took seventh with 74 points, two points ahead of eighth-place Yale and 42 points behind sixth-place Columbia. Ivy rival Princeton finished fourth with 118. Overall, 28 teams earned at least one point at the Championships. While the Quakers' seventh-place finish is undoubtedly impressive, it is even more notable considering Penn competed without any foilists because of injuries and the ineligibility of stars David Cohen and Cliff Bayer, who had not competed in enough collegiate competitions to qualify. "It's a bit of a paradox because we have the best foil team in this country," senior foil Agnieszka Gromulska said. "I'm sure the other teams were happy." The Penn men's fencing team scored 23 points in sabre and 28 in epee, while the women's foil added 12 points and the women's epee 11 to the Quakers' total. The competition began with round robin in each weapon -- foil, epee and sabre. All 24 fencers at each weapon faced each other in the opening round. The top four fencers then advanced to the final. Sophomore epee Michael Golia claimed fourth place, the highest Quaker finish. En route to becoming an All-American, Golia defeated fencers from such top teams as Penn State and Stanford. "[Golia] has natural instinct," Gromulska said. "He doesn't have one way of fencing, he can do many different things. He fenced very well." Sophomore epee Kari Coley finished in 12th place, earning honorable mention All-American status. Coley placed ninth at last year's NCAAs. "I didn't have as much fun as I did last year because I wasn't fencing as well," Coley said. "But watching the finals was a great experience." Coley believes this year's competitors were tougher than last year's. Penn State's Stephanie Eim and Charlotte Walker, who took second and third place respectively, were among Coley's most challenging opponents. Improving his performance from last year was sophomore epee Charles Hamann. Hamann claimed sixth place, earning him second-team All-American honors. "He competes with a lot of intensity," Micahnik said of Hamann. "Toward the end of the season his maturation as a competitor was really starting to show. He's more able to recognize what to do and what to change. He has more bout intelligence as a fencer." Freshman epee Scott Eriksen made an impressive NCAA debut, placing 12th and earning honorable mention All-American status. "I was happy to make it to the NCAAs as a freshman," Eriksen said. "I didn't expect to do as well as I did. I was very happy with my end result." Eriksen's victories include a 5-3 win over Penn State's Thomas Peng, who placed second overall. "I was one of the four people to beat him that day," Eriksen said. "It was a good feeling." The NCAAs were the last collegiate competition for senior foils Gromulska and Margo Katz. Katz placed 16th and Gromulska came in 21st. "Margo fenced very well," Gromulska said. "Even though I didn't do very well, I thought I fenced well. I won my last bout against [Notre Dame's] Myriah Brown. I had never beaten her before so I was very happy." Senior sabre Jeff Allen also finished out his Penn career, coming in 22nd overall. The NCAAs mark the Quakers' last competition of the season. While some fencers may train individually for U.S. Fencing Association tournaments, practice is strictly voluntary. Micahnik believes the NCAA finish was a nice way to end the team's season. "I'm very pleased we came in seventh in the nation," Micahnik said. "It's hard to complain about that."