March 11, 2017
EASTON, Pa. ââ'¬" The Penn State fencing team had a strong performance at today's NCAA Mid-Atlantic/ Southern Regionals, the Lions finished top-10 in all six weapons.
The Nittany Lions saw action against Drew, Duke, Farleigh-Dickinson, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Princeton, Stevens, Temple and New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The competition started at Lafayette College with both men's and women's foil and epee events. Sophomore Julian Fevry (St. Albans, N.Y.) took home 10th place in men's foil with freshman Jade Rowland (Princeton Junction, N.J.) came in fifth place, and senior Desree Ortega-Furgeson (Wyoming, Mich) followed in eighth place in women's foil. Freshman Clinton Rodell (Annadale, VA) came in fourth for men's epee, and sophomore Anton Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas) followed in fifth. In women's epee seniors Jessie Radanovich (Tollhouse, Calif.) placed sixth, and Jessica O'Neil-Lyublinsky (North Salem, N.Y.) placed seventh.
The men's and women's saber team dominated the competition at Lafayette. Sophomore Karol Metryka (Linden, N.J.) took home first place with junior Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.) coming in second place. Sophomores Marcel Dolwgiewicz (Park Ridge, Ill.) placed fifth, and Matthew Lewicki (Oakland, N.J.) followed in sixth place. For the women's junior Karen Chang (Hong Kong, China) placed third and senior Teodora Kakhiani (Tbilisi, Georgia) came in fourth.
Finishing top-20 for the women in epee sophomore Anastasia Kalonji (Rennes, France) placing 11th and sophomore Nicolette Vigna (Thornwood, N.Y) coming in 18th place. In Sabre sophomore DeAna Oliver (Montclair, N.J.) placed 14th and junior Kathryn Charpin (Setauket, N.Y.) placed 16th.
Finishing top-20 for the men in foil freshman Andrey Ostatnigrosh (Fresno, Calif.) in 16th place and senior Howie Chan (Walnut, Calif.) in 20th place. In men's epee senior Oskar Tang (Gothenburg, Sweden) finished in 16th place.
The remaining results are as followed:
Men's Foil: Freshman Mohamed Hassan (Saint Louis, MO) ââ'¬" 21st
Women's Foil: Freshman Alissa Gozali (Singapore) ââ'¬" 22nd
Women's Epee: Freshman Barbara Vanbenthuysen ââ'¬" 23rd
The Nittany Lions will be looking forward to the NCAA Championships held in Indian Thursday, March 23 ââ'¬" Sunday, March 26.
The qualification process for the NCAA Championship will be based on a combination of the fencers' season record and today's results. The fencers' season statistics will count towards 40 percent of the qualification, with the final 60 percent coming from the fencers' performance this weekend. After the results have been combined with each fencer's season record, the qualifiers are chosen based off of each weapon and gender's specific allocation amount. While each weapon and gender have different specifications, no team may send more than two fencers per gender, per weapon to the championship. To have the best chance at taking the title, the Lions are hoping to send two per gender and weapon.
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.