Dec. 6, 2015
FAIRFIELD, Conn. ââ'¬" The Nittany Lions traveled to Sacred Heart University to compete in the Tradition Tournament against Sacred Heart, Vassar, Princeton, Harvard, New York University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (men's only). The match was Penn State's first NCAA competition of the season.
The men's team beat four of the six teams present. Penn State won against NYU 19-8, Vassar 18-9, NJIT 17-10 and Sacred Heart 24-3, only falling to Harvard 17-10 and Princeton 15-12.
Leading the men's team were juniors Conor Shepard (Colleyville, Texas) and Nicolas Graziano (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Shepard ended the competition with an 11-5 on epee and Graziano finished with a 10-5 on foil.
The women's team did not compete against NJIT at the tournament, but still had a strong showing, handily beating three of the five teams at the match. Penn State won against NYU 20-7, Vassar 21-6 and Sacred Heart 18-9. Penn State fell to Harvard 18-9 and Princeton 16-11.
The women's epee squad had a standout performance on the day, ending the duel undefeated 5-0. Junior captain Jessie Radanovich (Tollhouse, Calif.) and freshman Anastasia Kalonji (Rennes, France) led the team on epee, posting scores of 12-2 and 10-4, respectively.
In addition to NCAA action, Penn State also had a showing at the Baltimore Olympic trials. Sophomore Julia Higson (State College, Pa.) competed in the Division II women's epee event. Higson advanced through pool play to direct elimination, but fell in the second round to finish in 54th place.
Penn State wraps up Olympic trials Dec. 7 with sophomore Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.) and Karol Metryka (Linden, N.J.) competing in Division I men's sabre.
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