M. Fencing looks for repeat

The Penn men's fencing team has been coping with a thorn in its foot: Columbia.

The Quakers fumbled a chance to win an outright Ivy League championship last year by losing to the Lions in their last match of the season. Penn finished tied for first with Princeton and Columbia.

"I want to win the Ivies again," Penn sophomore Jeff Breen said. "This time not a tie."

In order to win the Ivy title outright, the Red and Blue will have to capitalize on their strengths. Penn's biggest advantage is in the epee, where the team is led by a pair of seniors in captain Jim Benson and Scott Eriksen.

"[To repeat as Ivy League champions] it's going to take a lot," Eriksen said. "There are a lot of strong teams out there.

"It's going to take a serious effort on behalf of the foil and epee squads, who are a little more veteran than our sabre squad."

The Quakers' strength in the epee is complimented by a strong foil team and a youthful sabre squad.

Junior Yale Cohen and Breen will head the foils, while senior Daniel Vincent will provide stability for the sabres.

Against Columbia, no one hopes the younger squads will step up more than Eriksen does. For him, Ivy League bragging rights spill from the playing field into the home. Eriksen's brother, Kevin, is a member of the Lions' fencing team.

"It's nice to share [a championship] with your brother," Eriksen said. "I'd rather not share it at all, but if you have to share it with someone, your brother is not a bad person to share it with.

"He's got one more year, so we'll take it this year [and he can take it next year]."

Penn coach Dave Micahnik looks forward to the challenge this season presents.

"Columbia is always tough, then there's the traditional match with Princeton," he said. "We've handled Yale the last couple of years, but Yale's always tough.

"The goal every year is an Ivy championship."

Micahnik, however, has his eyes set on bigger things. After the men's and women's fencing teams combined to finish seventh in the country last year, Micahnik is looking at the national rankings as an indicator of progress.

"We're hoping to move [our rank] up a little this year," he said. "We need strength across the whole team in order to move up."

Within the team there are also a plethora of individual goals.

"[My aim is] just to win more than I lose and to make it to NCAAs," Vincent said.

Eriksen finished last year as an Honorable Mention All-America. To make second team All-American, he needs to finish in the top eight.

"I'd like to crack the top 10," Eriksen said. "Eight would be nice, but I'd settle for anything in the top 10."

Team members will get the chance to showcase their talent this Sunday at the Temple Open. Though the preseason competition does not include any sort of team scoring, there is still emphasis on excelling in order to provide a springboard for the regular season.

"Temple is a preview of what we can expect," Breen said. "[My goal is] to win -- to go out there and win every bout."

Wins at Temple would be nice for confidence but, more importantly, for experience.

The Quakers desperately need that seasoning, especially for Feb. 23, when they tangle with perennial powerhouse Penn State, reigning champion St. John's and, of course, Columbia.

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