Houston, Texas (March 21, 2005) - The Penn State men's and women's fencing team ended their season with a disappointing fourth place finish at the NCAA Championships. Though holding strong throughout the four day tournament, the Nittany Lions failed to move up in the ranks as Notre Dame took all, followed by Ohio State and St. John¡¯s.

The women¡¯s squad combined to add 68 points to Penn State¡¯s score, after the men finished with 77 points overall. Their total of 145 fell short of St. John¡¯s third place finish with 162. Notre Dame took over the top spot in the final bouts after Ohio State led for three days. The Fighting Irish finished with just two points more than the Buckeyes, 73-71.

Last year¡¯s silver medal winner in the women¡¯s saber, Sophia Hiss (Oklahoma City, Ok.), suffered losses in the first four rounds that kept her out of the top spot. She finished overall in fourth place, after an outstanding sophomore season, solidifying her place as one of the team¡¯s most valuable. Fellow sophomore Laura Hillstrom (Gaithersburg, Md.) finished in 22nd with six victories in the final.

In the women¡¯s foil competition, senior Co-Captain Meredith Chin (Wynnewood, Pa.), came in ninth with 14 bout wins. She ended a strong career at Penn State after qualifying four consecutive years for a spot at the National Championship. Junior Annekathrin Donath (Tuber, Germany) finished the competition in 14th overall.

Case Szarwark (Nashville, Tenn.) ended finals in ninth with 13 wins after another solid season. Andrea Wine (Rocky River, Ohio) came in 20th in the difficult epee competition. Wine, a junior, is one of the most experienced fencers on the Penn State squad, marking her next season to be an important one.

The men¡¯s team had been ranked second while the women¡¯s squad was in third going into the tournament. With the fourth place finish, this is the first time the Nittany Lion fencers have finished below second nationally since the combined national championship was introduced in 1990. They are still a national threat though and hope to bounce back next season to win their 10th National Championship since 1990.

 Team Standings Place School Total 1 Notre Dame 173 2 Ohio State University 171 3 St. John's University 162 4 Penn State University 145 5 Columbia/Barnard 137 6 Harvard University 134 7 Pennsylvania, University of 85 8 Princeton University 77 9 New York University 68 10 Wayne State University 58 11 Stanford University 51 12 Northwestern University 50 13 Duke University 48 14 Cal State, Fullerton 41 15 U.S. Air Force Academy 34 16 Rutgers University 31 17 Yale University 28 18 U.C. San Diego 23 19 UNC, Chapel Hill 20 20T Drew University 17 20T M.I.T. 17 22 Haverford College 16 23T Detroit Mercy, University of 12 23T Vassar College 12 25 Wellesley College 11 26T Brandeis University 6 26T Cal Tech 6 26T Cleveland State 6 26T Johns Hopkins University 6 30 Temple University 4 31T Cornell University 3 31T Sacred Heart University 3 33 James Madison University 1