After an almost perfect finish at the Penn State invitational on Saturday, the men's and women's fencing teams are showing strong signs of becoming the national champions this season.

The Nittany Lions went head-to-head for an arduous 12 hours as they competed against seven schools in their last home meet Saturday. The competition included Temple, Duke, St. John's, Haverford, Penn, Ohio State and Drew.

Senior Tami Najm said the team's performance went smoothly yesterday with no big conflicts.

"I think we did really well," she said. "The girls did what they were supposed to do and beyond, so we're happy about the performance."

She said the team worked together and avoided mistakes -- even when the substitutes were fencing -- which helped in the success of the day.

The women were undefeated, finishing with an incredible 7-0 record. The day's big upsets included their 24-3 victory against Haverford, 21-6 against Penn and 26-1 against Drew.

Top scorers in the women's foil division included freshman Doris Willette, who went undefeated, 14-0. Senior Tami Najm followed suit, finishing with a score of 15-3.

Sophomore Caitlin Thompson led the women in the saber division with an excellent finish of 15-1.

Epee fencer, senior Case Szarwark, rounded out the top finishers with a score of 19-1.

While the women's team posted strong showings all around, the men struggled slightly, losing to St. John's, 18-9. They finished 5-1 overall.

This is the second loss for the men's team, having already lost to Harvard in a previous meet.

This competition posed though elements for both the men and the women as they fought hard to battle fatigue and loss of focus.

"The toughest part was amount of bouts," Najm said. "It's not easy even if you're fencing weak teams because individual fencers have strengths and weakness that you might not be used to."

Despite the challenges, several fencers on the men's squad finished with strong scores.

Foil fencer, freshman Nick Chinman and epee fencer, junior Arthur Urman, led their respective weapons, finishing with a score of 11-3.

Saber fencer, junior Franz Boghicev, led his weapon with a score of 15-3, and senior Ian Farr followed close behind with a score of 13-5.

The team was able to finish strong overall this weekend because of its strong focus and support for each other.

Najm said by the end of the day, the team was relieved that it had performed well so far, making it easier to finish the bouts that were left.

"We were telling ourselves, only a couple more, only a couple more," she said. "We were very tired, but we still made sure we ate throughout the day and stayed hydrated."

She said the team maintained its strength, kept up momentum and stayed positive.

"It's tough to recover if you have rough parts throughout the day, but we stayed strong," she said.

Najm also pointed out that the placement of bouts helped ease pressure on the team. The two toughest opponents, St. John's and Ohio State, were dispersed between weaker teams so Penn State did not have to battle them one after the other, or at the end of the day.

After this meet, Najm thinks the team still has a "really good chance" at the national title, as long as it continues to train hard and practice hard.

From four years of being on the team, Najm said she knows that this point in the season is often the make it or break it time.

"This is the point in the season when people either let up and are sick of fencing, or bring strength together and work hard for the ultimate goal," she said. "As long as everyone stays in training, works hard in practices and comes prepared mentality, we have a very good chance of capturing the title."