COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 23, 2003 ¨C The Penn State fencing team scored 76 more points to capture the silver medal at the NCAA Fencing Championships, which concluded today at the Cadet Field House of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Penn State's 179 total points were just three behind National Champion Notre Dame, who also led after day one. St. John's finished in third place with 171 points, while Ohio State rounded out the top four with 167 points.

Penn State sent two individual fencers to the top of the podium, as junior Nonpatat Panchan (Bangkok, Thailand) and freshman Katarzyna Trzopek (Warsaw, Poland) claimed national titles. Panchan accomplished the very difficult feat of winning back-to-back national championships with an extremely dramatic 15-14 win over Nitai Kfir of St. John¡¯s in the men¡¯s foil gold medal bout. In the championship bout, Panchan jumped out to an early 10-6 lead, but Kfir came back to win the next seven points to go up 13-10. Panchan then found himself on the brink of defeat, facing a 12-14 deficit, but the veteran responded to the challenge brilliantly, scoring the final three points of the bout to claim the title. Panchan qualified for the gold medal bout by winning 19 of his 23 round robin contests and topping Yale¡¯s Cory Werk, 15-7, in the semifinal bout.

Trzopek capped off her remarkable freshman campaign by capturing the women¡¯s epee national title with a close 15-12 victory over teammate Jessica Burke (Upper Marlboro, N.J.) in the gold medal bout. The two Lady Lions dominated the women¡¯s epee all weekend long, with Trzopek notching 21 victories in 25 bouts and Burke, who won the national title as a freshman in 2000, tallying 16 wins in her 25 bouts. Trzopek earned a shot at the gold medal with a 15-12 victory over eventual silver medalist Alexandra Shklar of Ohio State. Burke had an easier time with Arlene Stevens of St. John¡¯s in her semifinal bout, winning 15-7 to get to the final. The two are accustomed to facing each other in gold medal bouts, as today¡¯s contest marked the third time this season they have gone head to head for a championship. Burke topped Trzopek in the Garret Penn State Open final in the fall, and just two weeks ago Burke edged out Trzopek for the regional title.

Juniors Adam Wiercioch (Gliwice, Poland) and Heather Brosnan (Portland, Ore.) garnered All-American honors for the third consecutive year with bronze medal performances. Wiercioch won 18 of his 23 bouts in the round robin portion of the event to advance to the men¡¯s epee semifinals. He then suffered a tough 15-12 defeat at the hands of eventual silver medalist Michal Sobieraj of Notre Dame to fall into the consolation bout. In the battle for the bronze, Wiercioch made short work of Anton Gurevich of St. John¡¯s, prevailing by a 15-5 margin.

Brosnan stormed through the round robin event, winning 20 of her 23 bouts to reach the semifinals. In her semifinal bout, she lost a heartbreaking 15-13 decision to eventual runner-up Julia Gelman of St. John¡¯s. Brosnan rebounded to post a 15-12 victory over Ohio State¡¯s Louise Bond-Williams in the consolation bout, posting what head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov considered an ¡°outstanding result.¡±

In the men¡¯s saber, Alex Weber (Frieburg, Germany) posted a fourth place finish for the second-straight season, picking up All-American honors in the process. He won 19 of his 23 bouts in the round robin competition but struggled in the semifinal and consolation bouts. Freshman Marten Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) claimed the final All-American position with an eighth place finish, winning 15 of his 23 bouts throughout the weekend.

In the women¡¯s foil, freshman Annekathrin Donath (Touber, Germany) did a superb job on her way to All-American honors and a sixth place finish. She fell just short of a trip to the semifinals after winning 18 of her 23 bouts in the round robin competition. Sophomore Meredith Chin (Wynnewood, Pa.) posted a 15th place finish in the weapon with 10 wins in 23 bouts.

In her final Championships, senior Austin O¡¯Neill (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) earned Honorable Mention honors with a ninth place finish in the women¡¯s saber. She won 14 of her 23 bouts and just barely missed All-American status. Freshman Chris Miller (Salina, Kan.) fell just out of Honorable Mention position with a 13th place finish in the men¡¯s foil. He won 11 of his 23 bouts and missed Honorable Mention by just one point.

Penn State was hindered by competing with one fewer fencer than the other schools in the top four. The Nittany Lions qualified only one fencer in the men¡¯s epee, which lessened the maximum points they could earn throughout the tournament. Coach Kaidanov pointed to this when reflecting on his team¡¯s performance. ¡°We were one fencer short, and we still defeated very strong teams from Ohio State and St. John¡¯s, who both had 12 fencers competing,¡± said Kaidanov. Kaidanov was also very pleased with the fact that nine of Penn State¡¯s 11 fencers earned All-American or Honorable Mention honors.

With this year¡¯s runner-up finish, Penn State has still not finished below second place since the Combined National Championship system was introduced in 1990.

For complete results of the 2003 NCAA Fencing Championships, visit airforcesports.com.