Oct. 24, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's and women's fencing teams will open up their season of collegiate competition this weekend at the Temple Open in Philadelphia, Pa. The event will begin at 8 a.m. on both Saturday Oct. 27 and Sunday Oct. 28, and will take place in the Temple Student Pavilion.
Members of the team are coming off impressive performances two weeks ago at the North American Cup U.S. National Team Trials in St. Louis. Freshman Shaul Gordon (Richmond, Canada) had a standout performance and ranked 2nd in men's saber. Others with impressive men's saber performances included freshman Kaito Streets (20th place), men's team captain Adrian Bak (23rd place), and sophomore Sean Moran (28th place).
Members of the men's foil team also performed well while in St. Louis. Freshman Nobuo Bravo (San Francisco, Calif.) proved that he'd be one to watch this season as he placed 5th in the event. Juniors Jeremy Goldstein and David Willette placed 19th and 24th, respectively.
Junior Nicole Glon (State College, Pa.) continued her success from last season and placed 3rd in women's saber. Representing the women in foil were sophomore Alina Antokhina (9th place), freshman Clarisse Luminet (21st place), and sophomore Kane Gladnick (62nd place).
This weekend's Temple Open will serve as the Nittany Lions first round of solid competition this season. Men's epee will be represented by sophomores Maxwell Kleeman and Yasser Mahmoud. Nobuo Bravo proved to be a strong force in St. Louis, and will represent the team at Temple in men's foil. Sophomores Gaspar Lesznik and Sean Moran will compete in men's saber.
The women's team will also be well represented at this weekend's event. Senior Ana Coutinho, junior Anne Stephenson, and freshman Rebecca Stanley will compete in women's epee. Sophomore Kane Gladnick will represent Penn State in women's foil. Women's team captain Jessica Russo will lead the saber team into competition, along with Nicole Glon and sophomore Elizabeth Rapp.
Head Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov's Nittany Lions are looking to make a strong run for the National Title this season. The team finished fifth last year, after two consecutive years on top in 2009 and 2010.
Results from this weekend's competition will be posted on gopsusports.com.