Penn State fencers were reminded that slow starts often translate into defeat. Two such beginnings handicapped the Lions Saturday.

The Penn State men dropped a decision to St. John's 18-9 and the women lost a close 15-12 match-up with the Stanford Cardinal.

The real loss came with the news of sophomore Jessie Burke, who was diagnosed Saturday afternoon with Crohn's Disease. She entered the hospital Wednesday morning due to severe abdominal pain.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammation of the intestines.

Overall, the Lions were in high spirits during the morning bout against Duke. Saber fencer Austin O'Neill had lion paws painted on each cheek. New addition to men's saber, Amir Rahimi, brought needed intensity to the discipline.

Non Panchan showed a flare for competition Saturday. The foil fencer, proved that he belonged against the big dogs with five wins against Stanford and St. John's. His wins were the only achieved by the men's foil squad in those matches.

"Non did an outstanding job," Penn State coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said.

After a near flawless performance in defeating St. John's 17-10, the women's team followed the break with a sluggish start against Stanford. Before awaking from the euphoric win against the Red Storm, the Nittany Lions were down 1-6.

"After breaks, we have trouble getting back into the fight," epee fencer Stephanie Eim said. "There were some wrong calls."

On one instance, foil fencer Charlotte Walker tossed her mask in disbelief after what appeared to be a bad call. Kaidanov immediately came to her defense, berating the official with tips on how to referee.

Concerning the slow start, Walker said Eim's comments were a "valid point."

"We needed to take advantage of every opportunity given to us," Walker said. "We didn't do that and we fenced very poorly."

Combined men's and women's, the foilers only managed four wins out of 18 bouts against Stanford's strength. But Panchan won two bouts.

Men's epee fed off the energy of squad captain Daniel Landgren to win 27 of 36 bouts and all nine against the Cardinal.

"Against St. John's we showed them too much respect," Landgren said. "Against Stanford, we showed right away we are the best team in the country."

The senior class on the women's side never tasted defeat in dual competition before Saturday.

"We needed it," Kaidanov said. "It makes everyone work harder."

The Nittany Lions also beat Ohio State 16-10 and Duke 21-6 on the men's side and the women defeated the Buckeyes 21-6 and Blue Devils 24-3.

Landgren pointed to the greatest obstacle for the coming weeks — timidity.

"When we get pushed, we shrink," Landgren said. "That only gets solved in competition and we usually get better as the season goes on."