W. Fencing eyes last multi-meet of year

The Penn women's fencing team is about to undergo a changing of the guard. The Quakers, who field a squad with just two sophomores and no juniors, will begin to say goodbye to their four senior fencers this Saturday at Temple when the fourth-years compete in the final regular season meet of their careers. Their departure will leave the team in the capable hands of a strong nucleus of freshmen who have been successful all season long. Veterans and newcomers alike will need to be in top form as the Red and Blue square off against Columbia, Cornell, St. John's and Penn State in a multi-meet at McGonigle Hall. The competition should prove to be very tough for the Penn. In addition to Ivy League rivals Columbia and Cornell, the Quakers will also have to go up against five-time defending NCAA champion Penn State and another very strong team in the Red Storm. Needless to say, Penn will have its work cut out for it. "This weekend will be very difficult," senior captain Heba Abdulla said. "I'm optimistic, but the level of competition is definitely top-notch. We're going to have to take it very seriously and not let the little one-touch losses slip away." Penn coach Dave Micahnik, who also expects a very difficult match, stressed the importance of this meet due to its postseason implications. "We're going to have to fight them tooth and nail," he said. "It's important for our fencers to get every possible touch and every possible victory -- not just for this meet but for the postseason." The weekend after, Penn will travel to Yale for the IFAs, a 13-school postseason tournament, and their performance this weekend will affect their seeding. While each and every match in this meet is therefore important, the Quakers (7-5, 1-2 Ivy League) would like to win both of their Ivy League matches to finish with a winning league record. While the Quakers are expected to defeat the Big Red, they should have their work cut out for them against archrival Columbia, who has a very strong team this year. The meet is also doubly important due to the fact that it is the last for the seniors on the squad. Foilists Margo Katz and Amy Hozer, epeeist Sandra Yens and sabre Heba Abdulla will compete in their final dual meet at Penn and would like to end their careers with a strong showing. "I want to end really well for my last dual meet at Penn," Abdulla said. "I just want to do my best and give it my all. I'm sad to be retiring from fencing." In addition to their desire to give the seniors a good send-off, the Quakers should head into this weekend's meet well-rested. Nine of the 11 Penn fencers had the weekend off before going into the season finale. The other two, freshmen Lauren Staudinger and Christina Verigan, traveled across the country to compete against some of the best in the country. Staudinger and Verigan went to Sacramento, Calif., to fence in the under-20 Junior Olympics this past weekend. Both placed very well and came away with a valuable experience. Staudinger finished in the top 24 out of 150 foil fencers, but despite this strong placing, the star freshman was still rather disappointed with her results. She credited this to a lousy official in the first round, who may have cost her a higher placing. "If I would have had a better official in the first round, I would have had a higher seed and probably would have finished a lot better," Staudinger said. "It was a good result, but I think I could have done better.... But there's always next year." Verigan, in her first national tournament fencing sabre, placed in the top 32 out of 81 sabre fencers. By doing this, she got national points, meaning she will be an automatic qualifier for the summer nationals and next year's Junior Olympics. "It was a confidence builder and will motivate me to work harder," Verigan said. "It also makes me more sure of my decision to fence sabre, because I fenced foil for a while and never got national points." But Verigan quickly shied away from individual exposure, focusing more on the team's upcoming meet and season finale. "I'm looking forward to this Saturday -- everyone will be really pumped."

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