The Penn State men's and women's fencing teams officially started their 2001-2002 seasons this past weekend, traveling to Philadelphia to compete in the 2nd annual Temple Open.

Head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov, starting his 20th year as head coach of the Nittany and Lady Lions, took the opportunity to give much-needed experience to his younger athletes. The fencers brought mostly underclassmen to Temple, and had a very strong showing, winning four out of the six events.

The Lady Lions competed on Saturday, beginning with the foil. Penn State freshman Meredith Chin advanced through the preliminaries and won gold, beating out 53 other participants. Fellow freshmen Laura Yee and Rachel Smith also got to the final draw, finishing third and seventh respectively.

Chin enjoyed her first experience at an away match.

"It was a lot of fun traveling with the team for the first time," she said. "I felt confident in my bouts because I didn't focus on winning. That allowed me to fence well and win the whole thing."

Penn State's lone competitor in women's epee was freshman Elizabeth Hammel, who did not finish in the top eight.

Penn State dominated the women's sabre, securing three out of the top four spots. Sophomore Heather Brosnan won the event, while junior Jessica Clark and sophomore Meredith Steyer tied for third place.

Sophomore Lindsey Clark also participated in the field of 58, and finished at 13.

On Sunday, the men claimed victory in the same events the women had won the day before.

Penn State fencers had a very strong showing in the foil, winning four out of the top eight spots. Freshman Ian Schlaepfer won gold, sophomores Joe Brown and Chris Dickson took fifth and sixth respectively and freshman Jacob Clark claimed eighth in the field of 61.

"Overall, I was pleased with the entire tournament," Schlaepfer said. "The level of competition was very high, so I had to keep my focus the entire time."

Two Lions participated in the epee, with freshman Ryan Wangner taking fifth place. Fellow freshman Ethan Muri did not place in the top eight.

The fencers had a very strong showing in the men's sabre as well, taking three out of the top eight spots. Junior Wyatt Kasserman won the event, while his teammates Noah Jacobson and Matt Gillig claimed seventh and eighth, respectively.

Kaidanov was very pleased with the performance by his young fencers.

"There was a good level of fencing," Kaidanov said. "The results of the tournament speak for themselves. Winning four out of the six events is a good accomplishment."