Junior Olympics serve as lesson for fencers

By DON WAGNER
Collegian Sports Writer

The future of Penn State fencing returned from San Jose, Calif., last Monday and Tuesday. Several of the sophomore and freshmen fencers on the Penn State team spent last weekend competing in the Junior Olympics, a competition most of them have been fencing in since they were 12 and 13 years old.

Representing Penn State were freshmen Polo Wagner, Claire Jackson, Lisa Flores, James Mahen and Gery Veneziano. Also traveling were sophomores Carol Klein, Dean Jacobberger and Stan Prilutsky.

Many of them used the competition as a learning experience heading into the Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals in two weeks at Chapel Hill, N.C.

"It was a good confidence builder right before regionals and the NCAA championships," said sophomore Sibyl Goldstein, who finished sixth. "I learned a lot from Coach (Kaidanov) because he kept taking me aside and telling me what I was doing wrong."

The lessons must have worked --Goldstein had the best finish off all the Penn State fencers.

For others like Mahen, the Junior Olympics is probably better off forgotten. He did not even wait around to see his final results.

"Part of my poor finish had to do with the long flight and trying to adjust to the time differences," he said. "I was sleepy and my head just wasn't in it and I wasn't ready to fence."

Mahen was not alone in his disappointment. Flores and Jackson were also less than happy with their performances. But Flores did manage to find something positive from the weekend.

"I'm not particularly happy with the points standing, but I am pleased with my personal progress," she said. "Since I am a freshman, I have come a long way since I got here."

Other finishes were Jacobberger and Ari Dlugacz, who finished in the top 16 in foil; Klein and Veneziano, who finished in the top 30 in epee and foil, respectively; and Wagner, who placed 25th in foil.