March 20, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Penn State men's and women's fencing team will send 11 National Qualifiers to San Antonio, Texas, this weekend for the 2013 National Championships. The four-day event will take place inside the Freeman Coliseum on March 21-24. The Nittany Lions will be competing to win their thirteenth National Championship, and the third in the last five years, under Head Coach Emmanuil Kaidonov.
Penn State is one of six teams to send 11 qualifiers to the 2013 Championship. The others include defending champion Ohio State, Columbia, Harvard, St. John's and Stanford. Only two teams, Notre Dame and Princeton, qualified the maximum 12 entries this year. The Nittany Lions will look to improve on their fifth place finish at last year's championship.
Three-Time All-American and 2012 Olympian Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia, Pa.) will lead Penn State in men's foil. The senior has been a finalist at the NCAA Championships three times, and will look to bring home the title this year. Chamley-Watson qualified by taking first place at the Mid-Atlantic/South Regional, and finished the season with an 18-1 record. Joining him will be two-time All-American David Willette (Lafayette, Calif.). Willette has been a finalist at the NCAA Championships two times, and took second place at the Regional this season.
Freshman Shaul Gordon (Richmond, Canada) will lead the way for the men's saber team. Gordon finished first at the Regional, and had a regular season record of 23-10. Two-Time All-American Adrian Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) will compete in his third National Championship, hoping to improve on last year's sixth place finish. The junior placed fourth at the Regional, and finished this season with a 21-8 record.
A pair of first time National Championship competitors will represent Penn State men's epee. Sophomore Benjamin Russell (Indiana, Pa.) will carry his eighth place Regional finish into the competition. Russell finished the regular season with a 22-10 record. Joining him will be senior Vernon O'Garra, who placed ninth at this year's Regional to earn his first trip to the NCAA National Championships. O'Garra finished his successful senior season with a 33-17 record.
Three-Time All-American and 2010 NCAA National Champion Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (Milan, Italy) will be the lone representative for the women's epee team. Guzzi Vincenti carried a 37-5 season record into this year's Regional, where she finished in fourth place. The senior's 211-29 (.879) career record is the fourth best in Penn State women's epee history.
Freshman Clarisse Luminet (Lyon, France) qualified for Nationals by finishing second in women's foil at the Mid-Atlantic/South Regional. Luminet finished the regular season with a mark of 40-14. All-American Alina Antokhina (Moscow, Russia) will also be making the trip to San Antonio, after qualifying with a third place Regional finish. She finished the regular season with a 40-22 record. The sophomore will look to improve on her third place finish at last year's Nationals.
Junior Nicole Glon (State College, Pa.) will make her second trip to Nationals this year, after finishing eighth at the Regional. Glon had an impressive 48-20 record this season. She will be looking to improve on her ninth place finish at Nationals last year, which earned her an Honorable Mention All-American status. Joining Glon will be team captain Jessica Russo (Wayne, N.J.). Russo placed seventh at the Mid-Atlantic/South Regional, and finished the season with a 51-23 record. This will be Russo's first trip to Nationals.
The men's team will enter the championships ranked first in the CollegeFencing360.com Fencing Coaches Poll. The women's team is currently ranked sixth.
Recaps and results from each day of the 2013 National Championship will be available on gopsusports.com at the conclusion of each day of competition.