WALTHAM, Mass., March 27, 2004 ¨C The Penn State men¡¯s fencing team scored 43 points in its first day of action to hold onto third place at the 2004 Men¡¯s and Women¡¯s National Collegiate Fencing Championships at Brandeis University¡¯s Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

The women¡¯s squad recorded 84 points over the first two days of the Championships to capture third place. The Nittany Lions now have 127 points toward the Combined National Championship, which will be awarded tomorrow. With today¡¯s performance, Penn State crept to within five points of second-place Notre Dame, who has 132 points going into the final three rounds. Ohio State has opened up a seemingly insurmountable lead with 159 total points. Columbia-Barnard made a push toward the top of the standings today and now sits in fourth place with 112 points. St. John¡¯s, who sports a very talented men¡¯s team, posted the best team performance of the day to move up to fifth place with 106 points.

All-American Marten Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) put together the best performance for the Nittany Lions today. The sophomore, who finished eighth at last year¡¯s Championships, logged 10 wins and a +14 scoring margin to reach fifth place in the men¡¯s saber. Freshman Ian Farr (Portland, Ore.) did nearly as well, posting nine wins and a +12 scoring margin to reach seventh place in the saber.

In the men¡¯s epee, three-time All-American Adam Wiercioch (Gliwice, Poland) positioned himself to earn the honor again this year. Wiercioch, who won the Bronze Medal last year, registered nine wins and a +14 scoring margin to move into fifth place. Sophomore Alexander Bruscke (North Caldwell, N.J.) struggled a bit in the first Championship action of his career, winning two bouts to reach 23rd place in the epee.

Ian Schlaepfer (Rohnert Park, Calif.), an All-American in 2002, led the Nittany Lions in the men¡¯s foil. He captured nine wins and a +9 scoring margin to move into seventh place. In his first Championships, junior Jake Clark (Waukesha, Wis.) posted four victories to reach 20th place in the foil.

Penn State head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said his team is now focused on capturing second place. The Nittany Lions have not finished below second place at the Championships since the Combined National Championships format was instituted in 1990.

¡°The fight now is for second place,¡± said Kaidanov. ¡°Our task is to not let St. John¡¯s get close and to get to Notre Dame. It is a very hard task, but we will do our best.¡±

The final three rounds of the men¡¯s portion of the Championships will begin Sunday at 10 a.m. The men¡¯s Gold Medal Bouts are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

For complete results, please visit http://www.brandeis.edu/ncaafencing/.