They did it again.

The men's and women's fencing teams won the NCAA Championship for the second year in a row this weekend. In addition, Penn State had four All-America fencers and won first place in women's foil and men's sabre. Plus, captain David Cox was named the outstanding sabre fencer.

Columbia came in second place; Notre Dame finished third, and Yale was fourth.

The five-day event ended yesterday with the epee team competition.

The team championship is determined by the total points earned by each weapon from each school. Points earned are based on the final position of each weapon in team competition.

At the beginning of the day Penn State was in the lead with 3,700 points; Notre Dame was second with 3,550, and Columbia was third with 3,000.

The epee team, which placed second in the finals, was seeded seventh going into yesterday's competition and had to obtain a better final position than No. 1-seeded Notre Dame to win the championship.

During the direct elimination of teams for the top eight positions, Penn State defeated Navy, 5-4, Johns Hopkins, 5-1, and lost to Columbia, 3-5. Notre Dame lost two of three matches, which knocked it out of the semifinals, and assured Penn State its second national title.

"When it actually happened it was hard to get back into our concentration," Ben Millett said.

Though Penn State was assured of the championship, the epee team had to go on to compete in the finals.

"Obviously they fenced a lot better than a seventh-seeded team," Cox said.

Penn State went on to the finals, in which it fenced Columbia again, and lost 5-4.

"Everyone was really relaxed," Millett said. "We gave them a strong fight. . . . We took them to the last bout."

Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov was surprised when Notre Dame lost its necessary two bouts.

"I expected this team to be the best in epee," Kaidanov said. "It looks like we were prepared a little bit more for this tournament."

"Our fencers were magnificent," Kaidanov said.

Penn State balanced its level of desire with its level of performance, which gave it the edge, Kaidanov said.

Though it was the epee victory which secured the team championship for Penn State, Kaidanov said the fencers on the entire team were what won the title.

"Our squads in each weapon, everybody gave their maximum," Kaidanov said. "Everyone on the team brought everything they were capable of. The winners were everyone because everyone gave their maximum."

"Our team started off young and inexperienced and we had a lot of barriers to overcome. We did it with a championship title," Cox said. "It's a great thrill to have back-to-back national championship titles."

In addition to the epee team placing second, each of the other weapons placed, and there were some high placing Lions in individual competition.

On Wednesday, Ed Mufel was eighth in men's individual foil competition, receiving an All-America honorable mention. On Thursday, two championship titles were won. The women's foil team placed first and Vitali Nazlimov was first in the men's individual sabre competition. Cox placed third in the event. Nazlimov and Cox both made first team All-America.

In men's fencing, places 1-3 qualify for first-team All-America; places 4-6 qualify for second-team All-America, and places 7-12 earn honorable mention.

In women's fencing, places 1-4 qualify for first-team All-America; places 5-8 qualify for second-team All-America, and places 9-12 earn an honorable mention.

On Friday, Penn State was fourth in men's team foil competition.

"Fourth place is a very respectable result that we had planned," Kaidanov said. "They really acted as a team."

"I would say they were very inconsistent," assistant coach Wes Glon said.

The foil team had good and bad moments, Glon explained.

Also Friday, freshman Millett made first-team All-America when he placed fourth in men's individual epee. Freshman Richard Clark earned honorable mention All-America honors when he placed 12th.

Glon said the individual epee results were a "very pleasant surprise."

"They (Millett and Clark) started at the beginning of the year very inexperienced. . . . We knew they had potential. They developed their potential really, really fast," Glon said.

"It's hard to expect freshmen to get to the top eight," Glon said.

On Saturday, the men's sabre team took first place, defeating Notre Dame, 5-3.

"At the beginning of the day we were fencing really well," Cox said. "Towards the end, things got a little more difficult. . . . We said the right things to each other to get our minds off losses and on the match at hand."

"Notre Dame showed the best fencing in this match," Kaidanov said. "It was a very tough match."

"It feels good to go out as a senior and win," Chris Reuter said.

Also Saturday, Olga Chernyak was fourth in women's individual foil competition, making first team All-America. In addition, Suzie Paxton got an honorable mention for placing 11th.

"They are both very tough and good fencers," Kaidanov said. "They both deserved it."

The crowd was a factor in all of Penn State's victories, captain Janet Rossman said. The crowd managed to pick up all of the fencers when they were down.

"You've got to take that (the crowd) and turn it into a positive force," Cox said.