PHILADELPHIA, Pa. February 12, 2005 ¨C The Penn State men's and women's fencing team competed at the University of Pennsylvania, against Columbia and St. John¡¯s. The women¡¯s side also took on Temple and Cornell.

The women's team had strong showings all around, defeating then-10th place Temple 25-2. The Nittany Lions went undefeated, beating U. Penn 16-11, Columbia 17-10, Cornell 21-6 and St. John¡¯s 19-8.

In women's saber, Sophia Hiss (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished on top with a record of 13-2. Laura Hillstrom (Gaithersburg, Md.) also had an outstanding day at 11-4. In the foil, Tamara Najm (Morristown, N.J.) won 12-2 bouts, while her fellow fencer Annekathrin Donath (Tauber, Germany) went 10-2 on the day. In the women¡¯s epee competition, Katarzyna Trzopek (Warsaw, Poland) excelled, finishing at 13-2. Sophomore Case Szarwark had an impressive day and ended with 11-4.

In men's foil, Nonpatat Panchan (Bangkok, Thailand) was 8-1 in bouts, senior Ian Schlaepfer (Rohnert Park, Ca.) finished 6-2 and Christopher Miller (Salina, Ks.) rounded out the top three at 6-1. In men's saber, Axel Reblewski (Le Moliere, France) led the way finishing 7-2. Ian Farr (Portland, Ore.) and Franz Boghicev (Dormaglu, Germany) both went 6-2 in bouts. In epee, Arthur Urman (Maalot, Israel) was 8-1 in bouts.

Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov commented that he was pleased on the day, stating the women¡¯s team win against Temple was, ¡°¡­big¡­¡± The men¡¯s side goes undefeated on the year as both men¡¯s and women¡¯s teams go onto the Junior Olympics starting February 18, 2005 in Arlington, Texas. The women¡¯s side finished the season ranked 3rd nationally, while the men placed 2nd overall.