MADISON, N.J.: March 7, 2009- Penn State men's and women's fencing qualified the maximum number of people at Drew University today. Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.), Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia, Pa.), Anastasia Ferdman (Maalot, Israel), and James Moody (Denver, Colo.) finished first in each of their weapons and are in a better spot for receiving a Championship berth.
In women's foil, Willette finished first. Allison Glasser (Piedmont, Calif.) also qualified and Anne Jackson was named an alternate in foil. In women's epee, Ferdman finished first and Nina Westman (Kalmar, Sweden) finished second. The alternate for women's epee is Keri Byerts (Webster, N.Y.). Women's saber ended with Caitlin Thompson (Portland, Ore.) finishing second and Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.) qualified as well. There was no alternate named for women's saber.
In men's foil, Chamley-Watson finished first. Nick Chinman (Boulder, Colo.) was also named a qualifier and there were two additional alternates named for foil: Michael El-Saleh (Houston, Texas) and Samuel Perkins (Petaluma, Calif.). Daniel Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) and Aleksander Ochocki (Clark, N.J.) were also qualifiers in men's saber. The alternate in saber is Bobby Thompson (Portland, Ore.).
Penn State finished first in four out of six competitions. Willette, Chamley-Watson, Ferdman, and Moody all finished first in their weapons, while Westman, C. Thompson, and Bak finished second in their weapons.
The final qualifications are held on March 10 and the NCAA Championships are hosted at Penn State in University Park March 19-22.
