Fencers to host top teams

By DARREN STEELE
Collegian Staff Writer

This weekend could be an exciting challenge for the Penn State fencers as both the men's and women's teams host a collaboration of top ranked talent at White building.

This will be the last home competition for Penn State fencing.

Teams scheduled to compete include No. 15 Duke (both men's and women's teams), Harvard (No. 12 in the men's standings, No. 13 women's) and the University of Pennsylvania (No. 7 in men's standings, No. 8 women's). Also joining the fray will be Stanford (No. 8 in the men's standings, No. 3 women's) and NCAA powerhouse Notre Dame (No. 2 in the men's standings, No. 1 women's).

This could turn out to be a real slobber-knocker for Penn State, a powerhouse in its own right.

The team, however, is not without its share of problems. Both freshman Stephanie Eim and senior David Lidow have back problems, but will be in competition this weekend. 1998 All-American sophomore Mike Takagi had knee surgery on Dec. 8, and will not likely participate in the meet. Junior Donald McGill is suffering from an ankle injury and will also sit out.

Despite the numerous injuries, Penn State enters the tournament with the top-ranked men's team and the No. 2 women's team.

Senior All-American David Lidow is optimistic about his team's chances despite its injuries.

"Even though we have injuries, I think our depth is strong enough to come out on top," said Lidow.

Lidow's optimism is impressive, considering that Stanford's men's foil team may be the country's strongest.

Stanford had three of its lancers in the foil division travel to last year's junior World Championships.

"They had a great recruiting year," said Penn State head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov.

Kaidanov is aware of the men's injuries, but has not lost confidence.

"This weekend will not determine the national championship," said Kaidanov. "This is the toughest competition we have faced. Our women's team has a good chance against Notre Dame, and our men are just as strong as (the Fighting Irish). Stanford will be tough, we will try our best against them."

This will be an important home stand since both teams will hit the road for the rest of the season.

Notre Dame may be the spoiler. It has seven returning All-Americans that have combined for 1,180 wins and just 204 losses. Leading this legion of doom is sophomore Andrzej Bednarski. Bednarski is terrific in the saber division and led the team with 53 wins last year.

Lion senior captain Tom Peng was the hero of last year's meet. Peng came from behind on a number of occasions on the final day of competition to secure a Penn State victory.

The Lions ended up winning the meet with a team score of 149, compared to Notre Dame's 147 and Stanford's 128.

Peng will have his men ready, but it looks like the women may be the hungrier of the two, wishing to grab the top spot from Notre Dame.

"We feel really good," said Eim. "We looked good in Louisville last weekend. The competition is good, and it will be nice to face some ranked teams."

Penn State is out to defend its 1998 NCAA National Championship. This could be a momentous stand for the team, if it is able to come out on top.