Several members of the Penn State fencing team are back in action since the start of the new semester. Six fencers will be participating in the Olympic Trials to get a spot on their respective country's team for both the Olympics and the North American Cup. The event occurs Jan. 13 in Houston, Texas and is for both the junior and regular Olympic teams.

On the men's side, sophomore Jeff Chang will be competing in the foil division. Since Chang is not a citizen of the United States, he will be vying for a spot on his native Hong Kong's team.

In the men's saber, junior Ian Farr will compete for a spot only on the regular Olympic team since he is no longer eligible for the junior team.

Also for the men's side, freshman James Moody will fence in the men's epee. Penn State fencing Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov is confident that Moody has a good chance for making the U.S. team.

On the women's side of the team, freshman Caitlin Thompson and junior Sophia Hiss will compete in the saber division. Thompson is already having an impressive year, as she is the defending world champion for her weapon. She also won the women's saber at the Penn State Garret Open during the fall semester.

Freshman Allison Glasser, who competes in the women's foil, is the only member of the women's team competing this week.

Kaidanov is confident that all the fencers competing from Penn State will perform well at the Olympic Trials. However, Kaidanov said "Thompson is going to have the best chance [to make the team]. Glasser has her chances too."

The Nittany Lions have been competing since October, but have only really had one team event. The next team event will occur on Jan. 28, when Penn State hosts a tournament composed of several elite teams such as Duke and Penn at the White Building.

Even though the first official NCAA rankings will not be posted until the end of next week, Kaidanov is positive that the Lions will be ranked very high. Kaidanov said "The standing will be pretty high, top five probably." The team hopes to continue their good form, as the NCAA championships begin in March and hopes some of their members will be representing their countries in international competition.