Jan. 14, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - As students return to Penn State for the start of the spring semester, select members of the Penn State men and women's fencing teams prepare to compete in the NAC D Tournament starting this Friday, Jan. 15, in San Jose, Calif. The tournament will conclude on Monday, Jan. 18.
Competing in the upcoming tournament are male foilists David Willette (Lafayette, Calif.), Daniel Gomez (Mexico City, Mexico), Michael El-Saleh (Houston, Texas) and senior captain Nick Chinman (Boulder, Colo.). Junior Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.) is the only team member in the women's foil.
Seniors Anastasia Ferdman (Maalot, Israel) and Keri Byerts (Webster, N.Y.) are the only team members in the epee competition and the only representatives in the men and women's saber competitions are sophomore Aleksander Ochocki (Clark, N.J.) and senior Caitlin Thompson (Portland, Ore.), respectively.
Sophomore standout Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia, Pa.) will be flying solo to Copenhagen, Denmark this weekend to compete in the Senior World Cup. This is his first appearance in this competition.
During the holiday break, Ochocki, Gomez, David Willette and freshman Jessica Russo (Wayne, N.J.) competed in the Junior World Cup in Budapest, Hungary from Jan. 2-4. Gomez had the best finish for Penn State, coming in 19th place. Ochocki and Russo then competed in another leg of the Junior World Cup in Künzelsau, Germany, where Ochocki finished in fifth overall, starting 2010 with a strong push for another trip to the NCAA Tournament in March.
For information on the upcoming NAC D Tournament, please visit usfencing.org. Results from the Junior World Cup can be found on the Penn State Athletics website, gopsusports.com, under the "SCHEDULE" link for men and women's fencing teams.