Women's Fencing gears up for local Open

For the past two weeks, there has been a lot of action in Hutchinson Gymnasium's fencing room. With the Temple Open this weekend, the Penn women's fencing team had to begin intensive training in order to continue to shine in national competition.

Though the Temple Open does not allow the team to compete in a traditional team-versus-team format, its individual bracket will allow the Quakers an early season look at where they stand.

"I wish we had more time to prepare," Penn Coach Dave Micahnik said. "This is a chance to get exposure to other people, other styles and other schools.

"Even though it is early, we can still scout a little."

Though the tournament does not have any bearing on Penn's record, it will help prepare the Quakers for their first Ivy League match in February against Yale.

"The Temple Open is like a kick in the pants so you do well for the rest of the season," sophomore saberist Yael Miller said.

The Red and Blue, a top-10 team, come into the 2002-2003 season with a crop of seven new fencers.

The foil squad adds three freshmen -- Monica DeFabio, Christina Kaneshige and Kate Carli. These strong freshmen will join team-veterans Emmanuelle Humblet and Stacey Wertlieb, who sliced their way to a combined 69-30 record last year.

Unfortunately, Penn will be missing a star component -- Lauren Staudinger. Staudinger, who was 39-13 last season, will miss extended time due to a stress fracture.

Last year's epee lineup will return in its entirety this season with anchors Kim Linton and Liz Kreidman heading the effort. Freshmen Jean Goto and Livia Rurarz-Huygens will add depth to the already strong roster.

"Epee has really picked up some extra depth," Micahnik said.

With two saberist starters having graduated, Penn's hole may be found in this weapon.

"We've got big shoes to fill," sophomore Kate Zimmerly said. "We've got our work cut out for us but we're up for the challenge."

With no freshman saberists on the roster, sophomore Ashley Zeigler and junior June Hsu abandoned their specialties of old to help strengthen the sabre squad.

"I like saber a lot," Hsu said. But she still admits to being "a little nervous."

While the team has only practiced for two weeks on paper, most of the athletes have undertaken rigorous training during the offseason.

Preparations ranged from Kate Napalkova's intensive training at the Stanford fencing club to Zimmerly's mental training in Wyoming.

"I'm a lot less tense than I was freshman year," Zimmerly said. "I'm a lot more ready for the Temple Open."

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