By Molin Zhong
Staff Writer
molin@sas.upenn.edu
Dave Micahnik has a dilemma.
He doesn't know just how good his fencing teams can be. Only now, the time for scouting has run out.
Flip over your cards. Show us what you got.
That's the challenge that will be presented to the Penn men's and women's teams at the Penn State Invitational tomorrow at State College.
Said Micahnik: "I feel that we're not at peak, but we don't have enough time to get there."
"We're in the heart of the season now. Whatever we are, that's what we're going to be."
The men's team is reloaded, with the return of freshman Andrew Bielen and sophomore Matthew Kolasa from the Junior World Cup.
The women's team is coming off a wildly successful Philadelphia Invitational, going 4-0 with victories over heavyweight programs Northwestern and Temple.
"The men's team is actually quite strong; a lot stronger than we looked at Haverford," senior captain Michael Galligan said. "At the last meet we were without some of our big guns. This meet will be a true picture of what the season is going to look like."
Not that this weekend will get any easier.
"We're going up against a couple of teams that are partially domestic and partially imported," Micahnik said. "We're going up against a couple of schools that give out . scholarships and we don't."
The men will have to face the likes of Penn State, Duke, North Carolina and Saint John's. Last season, the Quakers lost to North Carolina and Penn State, but beat Duke and Saint John's in close matches.
"This will be the stiffest competition thus far," Galligan said. "Penn State is a perennial fencing powerhouse and St. John's can always be counted on to have a really good team."
The women will face the four aforementioned teams, along with Haverford on the already-loaded slate.
Penn defeated Duke, North Carolina, and Haverford last year, while losing to Saint John's and Penn State.
"Personally, I'm very confident," Galligan said. "We have a young, lights-out sabre squad, our returning foil squad is the same that proved it was in the top three last year, and our epee is anchored by fantastic athletes and fencers with international experience."
Micahnik just does not want anyone to fall short of his or her potential, noting that losing to a more skilled competitor is disappointing yet understandable, but losing to someone you should beat would be "uncomfortable," to say the least.
"Considering this will be the first time the men's team will be complete and facing really tough teams this year, I think this weekend will serve as a good barometer for the team's future success," Galligan said.
Barometer. Indicator. However you want to put it, with the competition again kicked up a notch, this weekend will show everyone - including the team itself - just how good the Quakers are.
Can they pass another test?
