This past weekend, the Penn State fencing team sent some of its best younger members to the North American Cup in Albuquerque, N.M. This wasn't an NCAA event, though.

The NAC determines who will compete on the Junior Olympic and Junior World Championships team for the United States. Fencers had to be under 20 years old to compete and be in the top 12 point standings for their weapon.

Penn State sent freshman Allison Glasser to compete in the women's foil. Glasser lost in the finals, 15-14 and eventually would finish in sixth place.

Penn State fencing head Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov simply said that fencers like Glasser were tiring out and were not at their peak performance level. Kaidanov said, "This is like a marathon. The fencers are just running out of gas."

Glasser has a good chance to make the United States Junior team.

Freshman Caitlin Thompson competed in the women's saber. Thompson, who is currently the defending world champion for saber and recently won the saber at the Penn State Garrett Open, took third place in that weapon and should qualify for the team.

No women competed in the epee from Penn State.

In the men's epee, freshman James Moody finished in the top eight. Kaidanov said that it was a solid effort on Moody's part and should make the team. Sophomore Dennis Kraft also competed in the men's epee. He did not make the top 32.

Sophomore Jeff Chang competed in the men's foil at the NAC. He finished in the top 16, and competed well until the top 32. Like Glasser, Kaidanov said he simply just tired out.

In the men's saber, sophomore Alex Vongries competed. Vongries did not make the top 32. He finished Sunday evening.

Overall, Kaidanov was pleased with the results for the members of the Penn State fencing team that competed this weekend. Kaidanov said, "It was an extremely difficult tournament and it was difficult because it was so huge." Look no further for an example of this than men's foil having 225 fencers in the field.

The fencers that competed this weekend look forward to coming back to State College and join the rest of their team members.