Once again, the Nittany Lion fencers persevered in the clutch and placed well this past weekend in the North America Cup.

Unfortunately, two Lions had to face each other in the semifinals in Greenville, South Carolina. Jessie Burke and Stephanie Eim, roommates away from the strip, put those personal feelings aside and took the head-to-head battle in stride.

"It is unfortunate that Jessie and I had to fence each other to make it to the gold medal bout, but both of our performances were good," said epee fencer, Eim.

Good? It only improved their national rankings to the head of the class. Eim is ranked number one in the country with Burke nipping at her toes.

"It's a great position to be in to qualify for the upcoming World University Games and World Championships later this year," Eim said.

However, it's not always easy defending that top position.

Three freshmen continued a torrid start to their Penn State fencing careers and gave stellar performances.

Perhaps the most impressive was the work of women's saber fencer Heather Brosnan. She defeated two world champions en route to a silver medal.

"Making the final and winning against two world champions on the way there is just awesome," Eim said.

"That is something very noticeable," said Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov.

This performance raised Brosnan's ranking in the top 10 of US juniors to seven. Those ranked ahead of her have gained points in international competition. Brosnan still needs to tap those resources to influence the computer further.

Non Panchan, men's foil, also added to his Penn State resume. After winning 11 of 12 dual bouts in December, Panchan returned from the break to finish seventh. Now ranked second among U.S. Juniors, Panchan solidified a question mark in men's foil.

"Non Panchan did a superb job. It was a very good result," Kaidanov said.

Adam Wiercioch, the third part of the freshmen trio, torched most of the field in Greenville. Wiercioch earned the silver.

"Adam's fencing was inspiring. He was very confident and it showed," Kaidanov said.

"Adam had a great performance," Eim said.

In November and December, Wiercioch suffered from back trouble. But while the break seems to have given him a reprieve, it didn't solve the problem.

"His back is better, but it's a chronic problem," Kaidanov said.

The trip spelled success from each angle.

"We had pretty good overall results. It was an opportunity for kids to fence against stronger athletes in the country. Our task was to get the max number of bouts," Kaidanov said.

More importantly, the team grew closer as a group after the weekend action.

"Really, we got to cheer for each other the first time this season. It was great how the team stood behind each other and cheered their lungs out," Eim said.