This past weekend three of Penn States youngest fencers took on the world.

Freshmen Ian Farr, Sophia Hiss, and Case Szarwark competed in the first of many three-day tournaments that help decide the U.S. Junior national fencing team.

Coming into the weekend, the three standouts had already placed in each of their respective events in past tournaments, and although none of them finished in the top three this weekend, their coach noted their performances.

"This was their first serious tournament of the year," Penn State fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said.

"And we actually did pretty well. [Farr] especially, performed very well for himself."

Against some of the world's best fencers both Farr and Szarwark finished in the top 16 -- Farr in the men's saber and Szarwark in the women's eppe -- while Hiss ended up just outside the women's foil top 16.

All of the fencers performed well for their first outing, but coach Kaidanov expected more from his biggest prospect

Szarwark, the No. 3 seed on the U.S. national team right now, who was placed with the top four fencers in her division.

"She could've done better, but she was faced with a very difficult bracket," Kaidanov said.

"This tournament shouldn't affect her spot [on the national team]. But she needs to keep working to keep that spot."

The Junior World Cup is an event where the nation's best fencers compete, with an underlying goal of eventually making the U.S Junior national team.

While the Cup has no impact on NCAA standing, the Penn State coaches use it to evaluate the freshmen's progress.

"We took a lot out of this weekend," Kaidanov said.

"Their performances have definitely helped us start to figure out where they belong on the team."

The team has its first home contest in two weeks when they host the Garret Open from the White Building the weekend of Nov. 22.