Fencer calms jitters, wins at NCAAs

The first day of the NCAA Championships proved to be a rather inauspicious one for Charlotte Walker.

Last Thursday, the Nittany Lions' prized freshman epee fencer lost three bouts and found herself in second place heading into the final day of epee competition on Friday at Notre Dame.

But on Friday, Walker proved one full day of fencing was all the experience she needed, winning all nine of her bouts -- and the individual national championship in women's epee.

Walker overcame not only the difficult NCAA field, but her apprehensions as well. With a 15-5 championship match victory over St. Johns' Nicole Dygert, Walker became the first Lion fencer since Olga Kalinovskaya in 1996 to win an individual title.

Against Dygert, Walker said she went in with a simple game plan -- to fence with cautious aggression.

"I fenced her before," she said. "The strategy I had the first time was to be careful, but confident. I wanted to put that through to the final bout."

Head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov recognized Walker's victory as an important one in helping Penn State to its unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA crown. But the most impressive aspect of Walker's accomplishment, according to her coach, wasn't that she was able to do it. It was how she did it.

"We expected her to win," Kaidanov said. "But she won with class. It was a very good victory."

That class is demonstrated in Walker's team-first attitude. Even as her weapon struck Dygert for the 15th and final time in the championship bout, Walker didn't lose sight of the goal the other fencers had established from the first day of practice.

The individual championship was nice. But her contribution to the team's drive for a fourth straight title was even more fulfilling.

"It was great," Walker said. "It's been what we were working for the entire year. It was one more step to the championship."

Despite her own efforts, Walker said it was the grace under pressure displayed by the Lions' men's team that clinched the team championship, which she ranks as one of the biggest accomplishments of her career.

"The six people that fenced on the men's team did a fabulous job," Walker said. "On the last day, there was a lot of pressure. And it's amazing how they fenced under that pressure."

Walker has come a long way from her start in fencing as a middle school student in her native Australia. The road, however, was made smoother by success. She earned a berth on the Under-17 Australian National Team in 1994. During the 16-1997 season, Walker won an Under-20 World Cup event in Poland.

Now, she can add individual and team NCAA Championships to her list of accomplishments.

Looking back on her freshman season, Walker said she learned what it takes to fence as a member of a team. She had to deal with the pressure of her teammates' fate riding on her every bout. She also had to accept her fate depending on each of their bouts. At NCAAs, she felt the power teamwork can bring.

"I've never been in a situation before where it was a team (fencing for a championship)," Walker said. "We pulled together so much. It was 10 people winning, and it meant so much to the others. It was one of the most exciting things I've ever been involved with."

It will feel a little weird, Walker confessed, to not have a mandatory practice or a team meet for a while. But she'll be over that feeling by next season -- when fencing with a team won't be such a new concept to her.

And neither will winning championships.