March 10, 2012
EASTON, Pa.- Eleven Nittany Lion fencers qualified for the 2012 National Championships during Saturday's Mid-Atlantic South Regional, hosted by Lafayette. Penn State placed six in the top three of their event. Princeton was the only school who placed more in the top three of their events, with seven. Nationals will be hosted by Ohio State in Columbus on March 22-25.
Men's Foil continued a strong season by placing three in the top four of the regional. The group was led by Daniel Gomez- Tanamachi (Mexico City, Mexico) who won the event. Jeremy Goldstein (Westport, Conn.) followed up with a third place finish, while David Gomez- Tanamachi (Mexico City, Mexico) ended up in fourth.
Men's Saber also experienced a successful day, finishing with three in the top seven of the event. Adrian Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) led the way with a third place finish. He was followed by teammates Aleksander Ochocki (Clark, N.J.) in fourth place and Pawel Puchalski (Lake Forest, Ill.) in seventh. Sean Moran (Beaverton, Ore.) finished in 12th place. Bak will look to improve on his seventh place finish in the saber at the 2011 National Championships, while Ochocki will seek his second National Championship and his fourth All-American honor.
The Men's Epee featured a sixth place effort from Oliver Valdes (Southlake, Texas), automatically qualifying him for Nationals. Anthony Green (Stamford, Conn.) is a possible at-large candidate after a seventh place finish. Freshman Jeffrey Miller (Centennial, CO) took tenth place in the event.
Women's Saber placed two in the top three of the event. Sophomore Nicole Glon (State College, Pa.) finished in second place, while Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.) placed third. A two-time All-American, Aksamit will compete at the National Championships for the third time after a fifth place finish in 2009 and a seven place finish in 2011.
Women's Epee placed four Nittany Lions in the top fourteen, led by second place finisher Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (Milan, Italy). Guzzi Vincenti was the 2010 National Champion in the Epee and placed third at the 2011 Nationals. Alyssa Vongries (Bloomington, Minn) an at-large candidate after placing eighth. Finishing ninth was Oksana Samorodov (San Antonio, TX), while Anne Stephenson (Washington, D.C.) took 14th place.
Women's Foil was led by Alina Antokhina (Moscow, Russia), who placed 4th in the event. Nicole Gladnick (Wynnewood, PA) and Erika McKee (Valley Stream, N.Y.) finished 19th and 20th, respectively.
Penn State will seek their 13th National Championship and third in the last four years under head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov.