The leaders of the Penn State men's and women's fencing teams were given a break this weekend, opening the door for the less experienced fencers on the roster to compete at the 2005 Temple Open.

The women's team placed three fencers in the top ten of the epee division. Senior Andrea Wine took first place for the Nittany Lions, beating out Erica Waichman of Cornell. Sophomore Megan Luteran took seventh and junior Katherine Cook placed eighth.

In the women's foil, freshman Julia Mouk finished 14th. Head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov noted that Sophomore Sara Gonzalez fenced well placing 19th in foil.

Junior Lily Matusiak led the Lions in saber finishing 16th. Senior Juliet Howard fenced to 20th place and sophomore Rachel Arndt took 25th.

Kaidanov said his team had a good showing against a talented field. He said that he was happy with the performance of his less experienced fencers.

"[We had] good results in epee. They made a positive impression. We'll see how they will develop over the season." Kaidanov said.

Kaidanov said the leaders of the team got the weekend off because of the big competition coming up this weekend in New Mexico.

The men's fencing team also had a successful weekend. Junior Dennis Kraft advanced to the round of 16 for epee and sophomore Nevin King finished in 7th place.

In foil, the men did not lose in the first two pool rounds. Three fencers finished in the top eight for the Lions. Freshman Janos Gasparin took sixth, sophomore Sergio Hey-Colon placed fifth, and freshman Emerson DiNapoli rounded out the top eight.

In saber freshman Joe Milliron went undefeated in the pool rounds and finished in the tournament in the top eight.