Dec. 3, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State fencing team returns to action this weekend in Fairfield, Conn. to open up the regular season. The Nittany Lions will face Sacred Heart, New York University, Vassar, Princeton and Harvard.
Additionally, the men's team will compete against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Competition begins at 9 a.m.
Those competing for the men's team are as follows:
Foil: Howie Chan (Walnut, Calif.), Nobuo Bravo (San Francisco, Calif.), Julian Fevry (St. Albans, N.Y.), Nicolas Graziano (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Stephen Barnett (Clinton, Conn.), Richard Cho (Seoul, South Korea) and Paul Valigorsky (DuBois, Pa.).
Epee: Joshua Cole (Chappaqua, N.Y.), Patrick August (Las Vegas, Nev.), Conor Shepard (Colleyville, Texas), Farzaan Karimi (Medfield, Mass.), Lars Swanson (Mendham, N.J.) and Oskar Tang (Gothenbur, Sweden).
Sabre: Adam Lewicki (Oakland, N.J.), Gavin Turner (Rehoboth, Mass.), Kaito Streets (Redwood City, Calif.), Marcel Dolegiewicz (Park Ridge, Ill.) and Eduardo Lara (Queretaro, Mexico).
Those competing for the women's team are as follows:
Foil: Clarisse Luminet (Lyon, France), Najiyyah Clark (Maplewood, N.J.), Daniella Ortiz (Bayside, N.Y.), Desree Ortega-Furgeson (Wyoming, Mich.) and Kasey Iverson (Basking Ridge, N.J.).
Epee: Jessie Radanovich (Tollhouse, Calif.), Jessica O'Neill-Lyublinsky (North Salem, N.Y.), Alissa Hofmann (Cambridge, Mass.), Anastasia Kalonji (Rennes, France) and Nicolette Vigna (Thornwood, N.Y.).
Sabre: Kathryn Charpin (Setauket, N.Y.), Erin McLoughlin (San Jose, Costa Rica), Jacqueline Rozpedowski (Flemington, N.J.) and DeAna Oliver (Montclair, N.J.).
Six Penn State fencers will also travel to Baltimore to compete in the North American Cup. The competition will count towards the fencers' Olympic qualifications.
Representing the women's epee squad will be Sarah Waller (McKinney, Texas) and Julia Higson (State College, Pa.). Waller will compete at 9 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 4 in the Division I pool, and Higson will compete in the Division II pool at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6.
The men's team will be represented on each weapon at the Olympic trials. Bravo will pull double-duty this weekend, competing in the Division I men's foil competition at 8 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, before travelling to Sacred Heart for the NCAA duel.
The Nittany Lions will finish Olympic trials on Monday, Dec. 7, with Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.) and Karol Metryka (Linden, N.J.) competing in Division I men's sabre at 8 a.m. and Ian Gregory (State College, Pa.) competing in the Division II men's epee event at 11:30 a.m.
Penn State fans are encouraged to follow Penn State fencing via Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/pennstateFEN, on Penn State Fencing's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pennstatefencing and on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/pennstateFEN.