W. Fencing to duel alumnae

The Penn women's fencing team will participate in its annual Alumnae Meet in Weightman Hall tomorrow at 1 p.m. The meet is a warm-up for the team's regular season, which begins January 22. "The Alumnae Meet will be a dry run for our season," coach Dave Micahnik said. "It has nothing to do with our record but there are real officials and it will be a good warm-up." At the meet, the Quakers will be fencing Penn alumnae in a friendly competition. Since many of the former team members have a host of other commitments, it is not yet known how many competitors will make an appearance. But a low turnout won't spoil the event -- fun is tomorrow's primary objective. "It's a social gathering and a homecoming with a reception afterwards," Micahnik said. And the event should not only be a good time for the alumnae in attendance -- the current Quakers should also have a pleasant experience. "I'm very excited because I get to see all of my old teammates," said Penn senior captain Heba Abdulla, who also noted that the old fencers are always surprisingly sharp. "It's amazing how good the fencers are," she said. "They haven't fenced in a while and they come back and they're pretty amazing. They beat us two years ago so we definitely cannot take them lightly." Although the Quakers are not taking their predecessors in Red and Blue lightly, the meet's outcome is unimportant in comparison to the experience some of Penn's current fencers will gain. "The freshmen will learn how we get ready and get pumped up," Abdulla said. "It's also exciting that this will be my first sabre competition." Abdulla, along with freshman Christina Verigan and sophomore Abby Lifter, converted to sabre -- a new weapon in women's competition -- to help the Quakers. This exhibition meet may give those fencers experience with their new weapon and let them see how close they are to regular-season form. But for now, the Quakers just want to see some old faces and have a good time.