Nineteen fencers go to NCAA regionals

Nineteen members of the Penn fencing team will wake up around 6 a.m. on their first day of spring break to fence in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Region Fencing Championship. The tournament will be held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J., and will host fencers from schools in New Jersey and states to the south. The competition begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday. The championship is invite-only, with qualifying fencers picked based on a combination of the teams their school faced in dual meets and the fencer's personal record. The top seven or eight fencers from each fencing weapon -- foil, epee, and sabre -- will go on to compete in the NCAAs. But each school can only send two fencers per weapon to the NCAAs. "We have people that are good enough to qualify," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "I certainly expect that we'll have some qualifiers." Of the 19 Quakers making the trip, seven did well enough at last year's regionals to earn a trip to Nationals. And four of those seven should do even better after competing as freshmen last year. Sophomore foil Yaron Roth, who finished in second place in last year's NCAAs, should have no problem at regionals this year. "I hope to do better this year," Roth said. "The main goal is always to win. You try to win in everything you do, but if you make it or not is another story." Sophomore Michael Golia used a second-place finish in the sabre last year to earn his trip to NCAAs. He does not anticipate this year's competition to be tough. "I expect to make it [to the NCAAs]," Golia said. Sophomore Kari Coley earned a second-place finish in the epee last year, which sent her to Nationals. "It was a long day but it went well," Coley said. "All the fencers there have been selected, so they're all top-notch fencers." Sophomore epee Charles Hamman placed fifth at regionals last year and 17th at NCAAs. "It was a fun day but there's a good amount of pressure because it determines if you go to the NCAAs," Hamman said. "A lot of crazy things happen. There are always surprises." Also trying to return to NCAAs will be senior foil Agnieszka Gromulska, who finished 17th last year; junior Margo Katz, who finished 22nd; and epee captain John Wright, who finished 21st. Wright and fellow captain Meredith Galto are among the team's seniors, who may be fencing in their last collegiate competition. "I have mixed feelings because if I do well then I'll compete again," Galto said. "It's weird not knowing if this will be my last college competition." Penn will be competing against some teams it has already seen this season, such as Princeton. They will also fence schools they have not faced at all this season, such as Drew University and James Madison. The Quakers are ready to conquer this weekend. "We're coming off a big meet last weekend [the Intercollegiate Fencing Association Championships at Cornell], so we're energized," junior foil Amy Hozer said. Hozer believes the conditions of competition are favorable. "There will be no school [because of spring break] so there will be no homework pressure," Hozer said. "And a lot of people will be supporting us. A lot of parents will be coming because it's so close." The NCAA selection committee will meet over spring break. Choices will be made based on season record, strength of schedule, and performances at regionals. The NCAAs will be held at Brandeis March 18-20.