State College, Pa. - November 17, 2005 - The Penn State women's fencing team, already boasting a talented squad, saw its fortunes for future success grow richer with the signing of Keri Byerts (Webster, N.Y.) to a National Letter of Intent. Byerts will be a freshman for Penn State in 2006-07 and compete in the epee.

An outstanding performer on the national and international level, Byerts is currently ranked No. 13 in the world in junior women's epee and fourth in the United States. She was the Silver Medalist at the 2005 Women's Epee U.S. National Championships and placed sixth at the 2005 Junior World Championships in Linz, Austria.

A year earlier, Byerts won the Bronze Medal at the 2004 Cadet World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Byerts is the daughter of Darrell and Anne Byerts. She fences for the Northwest Fencing Center in Beaverton, Ore., and coach Michael Marx.

Penn State, under the guidance of veteran head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov, will host its annual Alumni/Alumnae Meet this Saturday at 11 a.m. and then return to action in full on December 3 when it hosts New York University, Rutgers, North Carolina, Princeton and Harvard in dual action beginning at 9 a.m.