Eight hundred fencers met this past weekend in Little Rock, Ark., to secure places on the Junior World Championship team.

Three Penn State fencers did just that.

Olga Chernyak, in women's foil, Jennifer Prifrel, in women's epee, and Thomas Strzalkowski, in men's sabre, each placed second, earning positions on the team.

"They missed the first places by a little bit," assistant coach Wes Glon said.

In addition to the three qualifying fencers, Anthony DuBose and Chris Jones placed in the top 24 foil fencers, and Richard Clark was among the top 12 in epee.

The fencers accumulated points from circuit events to qualify for the competition, which determined who would comprise the Junior World team. The points are based on what place each fencer takes in the competition.

"I think it really shows how hard they work here and what kind of quality we have here," Glon said."

"That is very impressive and very respectable," Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "Not many schools have what we have which is three fencers on the championship team."

Chernyak, Prifrel and Strzalkowski spent the weekend trying to defend their high-ranking positions.

"They were the ones who others tried to challenge. . . . They stood up to the task," Glon said.

"Overall it is quite a good result," Kaidanov added.

Two of the three fencers will each be a part of three-person squads who will compete against other national championship teams in the World Championship. The competition will be hald in Ankara, Turkey from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2. Chernyak, who is not a U.S. citizen, will not compete at the Championship. An alternate will be sent in her place.

The fencers also got previews of some of their opponents they will face in the NCAA Regional competition, March 2-3.