Frost boost W. Fencing at PSU

With the absence of many upperclassmen, a young team of five freshmen and one sophomore represented the Penn women's fencing program at the exhibition Garret Open at Penn State on Sunday. And coach Dave Micahnik was satisfied with the performance of his young guns. "The meet was more important for the freshmen," Micahnik said. "It was a chance for them to fence strangers and bring their game to a higher combative level." The exhibition meet included fencers from several schools, including Ivy rivals Columbia, Princeton and Yale. Despite the fact that the majority of the upperclassmen could not attend due to interviews, sicknesses and injuries, the meet was still a valuable experience for those who were able to make it. Penn's top finisher was freshman Christina Verigan, who placed 14th out of 47 in the sabre. Verigan, who recently switched from foil, was fencing in her first competition as a sabre. "Some people were much more experienced than Christina at sabre," Micahnik said. "But as far as people she is on par or a little behind with, she did extremely well." "It seemed once I started, everything I learned came together," Verigan said. Nevertheless, she hopes to continue to hone her skills and technique. "At foil, I felt I reached my height and wouldn't get any better," she said. "But at sabre, I feel like I'm making constant improvements." In the foil, freshman Lauren Staudinger tied for 18th out of 45 and freshman Stacey Wertlieb tied for 29th. Despite Staudinger's fairly high finish, however, she was disappointed with the results. "I should've done better," Staudinger said. "I didn't perform as well as I should have in the third round and I wasn't focusing enough." The epee competition, which included 58 fencers, saw freshman Kim Linton place 28th, sophomore Mindy Nguyen finish 34th and freshman Julia Blank end at 56th. But for these young fencers, their overall finishes were not as important as the experience they gained. It is only November and there is still plenty of time until the start of the dual meet season. "We got out of the meet what we went to get," Micahnik said. "We got experience and we now know what things need to be worked on." The Quakers are back in action December 4, when they will host the Penn Alumni Meet.