University Park, Pa. - The Nittany Lion men's and women's fencing teams started the year off strong with competition in San Jose, Calif. at the January North American Cup from Jan. 7-10. Penn State sent sixteen athletes to compete in this competition in anticipation of the beginning of the spring semester.
In the men's saber competition, Ethan Mullenix (San Francisco, Calif.) tied for 25th. Nicholaus Zielinski (Prospect Heights, Ill.) placed 48th, and Jeffrey Basalyga (Saddle River, NJ) tied for 132nd.
In men's epee, Jonathan Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas) placed 27th. Devin Tafoya (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Ryan Griffiths (Fair Lawn, N.J.) ended competitions in 52nd and 57th place respectively. Mitchel Bekker ended in 116th place.
Shane Iverson (Basking Ridge, N.J.) tied for 85th place in men's foil. Donavyn Martinez (Fresno, Calif.) placed 88th followed shortly behind by Nicholas Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) placing 98th. Gavin Hay (Troy, Mich.) tied for 143rd place.
Kateryna Chorniy (Kyiv, Ukraine) placed 41st in women's epee. Helen Myers (Victorville, Calif.) ended competitions in 123rd.
Samantha Catantan (Quezon City, Philippines) placed 30th in women's foil followed by Mikaela Yhip (Chico, Calif.) who placed 136th.
A full scoring breakdown of the January NAC can be viewed here.
Penn State fencing will be back in action January 16th for their home dual series at the Multisport Facility with senior day celebrations.
Fans can keep up with Penn State Fencing at GoPSUsports.com. Follow the team on Facebook at Penn State Fencing and on Twitter @pennstateFEN.