Fencing history was made last weekend when Tom Strzalkowski, Andy Gearhart and Olga Chernyak won the men's sabre, foil and women's foil, respectively, at the North American Circuit in Atlanta.

To put the magnitude of each of their wins in perspective, this is the first time ever in the history of Penn State fencing that three fencers captured North American Circuit titles in the same weekend.

Strzalkowski, Gearhart and Chernyak proved over the past weekend that they might be the closest thing to a sure bet that there is. The three members of Penn State's fencing team showed why they are ranked first on the team in each of their respective weapons.

Coming off a previous weekend that saw the entire fencing team qualify for the NCAA Championships, the three went on a tear, capturing the men's sabre, foil and women's foil titles.

"It felt good," Chernyak said of her win, while also saying it was probably her best performance ever. "I felt like I accomplished something."

And she did, along with her two other teammates. Even Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov broke out of his normal tone of voice to express his joy in his pupils.

"They got crazy," Kaidanov said of the trio. "We worked hard and diligently. They did superbly."

The three All-Americans travelled to fence at the second of three NAC tournaments where they could earn a spot on the national team. Participants in the NAC earn points by fencing the top fencers -- ranging from amateurs to former Olympians -- with the top point-getters moving on to the national team.

It looks postive after last week's performances that all three of the fencers have a good shot at making the national team.

"This is my biggest win ever," said Strzalkowksi, who defeated the defending national champion -- and his nemesis -- who he lost to in the previous NAC. "I made the final four or five times in a row. This time I finally broke through."

Just as Jim Morrison and the Doors sang, the three Penn Staters definitely broke on through to the other side. All three battled their way through about a dozen bouts en route to their titles.

Another disciple who followed the mythical words of Morrison, and of course Kaidanov, was epe fencer Chris Jones.

Jones, who struggled at times throughout the season, showed the way for Penn State's epe fencers. The senior fought through the competition on his way to a personal best-15th place finish.

"Chris really whipped up on the No. 1 seed (in epe) -- whipped the guy's ass," said fellow epe fencer Kimo Quaintance, who finished one slot behind Jones at 16. "Chris personally defeated one-third of the (Canadian) epe team."

Jones must have ignited Morrison before the start of the NAC because he caught fire throughout the entire tournament. For Kaidanov, only high remarks flowed for his senior.

"Chris finally got what was missing all year," Kaidanov said. "He got his sense of timing, but he was always an intelligent fencer."