Fencers preparing to foil regional rivals


Friday, Feb. 20, 1998	Fencers preparing to foil regional rivals By DONNIE COLLINS Collegian Sports Writer It will be business as usual for the Penn State fencing team. But this time, winning may not come as easy for the Nittany Lions as it has in the past.
`Penn State Fencing page`	The fencers will travel to Columbia University tomorrow for what may prove to be their biggest test of the season. The Lions will fence Columbia, St. John's, Pennsylvania and Temple -- and they are not taking their competition lightly. "This is going to be the hardest meet I've been in in my three years." said junior David Lidow, who, along with his teammates in foil, will compete against a bevy of world-class fencers.
Lion fencer David Lidow (right) prepares for an attack on Notre Dame opponent in a contest at White Building earlier this season. Penn State journeys to New York to face Columbia, Pennsylvania, St. John's and Temple this weekend. (Collegian Photo/Ilan Sherman - click for full size image)	Penn brings a formidable trio of foilsmen to the Big Apple. Quaker sophomore Cliff Bayer was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, and a pair of freshmen -- David Cohen, ranked No. 16 in the U.S. Fencing Association Senior Men's foil rankings, and Yaron Roth have also proved to be successful. The Lions' foil team must also prepare for a meeting with Columbia senior Dan Kellner, a three-time All-American ranked No. 1 by the USFA. But Penn State's foil team can be just as impressive. Lidow is ranked fifth, while teammates Gang Lu and Donald McGill are raked 10th and 13th, respectively. Lidow says Penn State has been looking forward to this competition for a while. "We've been focusing on their teams since we came back from South Bend," Lidow said. "We've been stepping up intensity in practice." It isn't only the men's foil team that will face a stiff challenge this weekend. Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov expects the dual meet to provide strong competition for his entire squad. Kaidanov says the biggest threat to his team will come from another group of Lions -- the hosts from Columbia. The Penn State men's team will not only have its hands full with Kellner, but must also deal with 1997 Junior Olympic Sabre Champion Patrick Durkan. On the women's side, Columbia's Susan Jennings is ranked sixth by the USFA in women's foil, and her foil teammate Erinn Smart is second in the junior foil ranks. Despite Columbia's strength in foil, the Penn State women won't be able to count on help from Charlotte Walker again this weekend. Kaidanov said his talented freshman, who fenced foil two weekends ago at Notre Dame, will move back to epee. Nevertheless, Kaidanov said the Penn State women have the advantage against Columbia. "(For Columbia), women's epee is not as strong as foil. But, it's solid overall," said Kaidanov. "We have a certain edge with the women. But we'll see how the men do." Kaidanov doesn't expect his fencers, who were idle last weekend, to be affected negatively by a two-week layoff from action. In fact, he considers it a positive. "We get to concentrate on our strengths," Kaidanov said. "It was a good thing for the team to take it easy after a long, difficult trip to Notre Dame." The fencers agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of their coach. "You could say it helps us, because it gives us time to relax and regroup," said Lidow. "Having a meet every weekend is very stressful. You can get burned out easy." But when they step onto the strip tomorrow morning, the Lions know they will have to put aside all thought of being rusty. They know they will have to be at their best to have a successful weekend against their toughest competition of the season. "As long as we perform well and do what we have to do," Lu said.