After an entire season of mental and physical preparation, the Penn State fencers are ready to reclaim the national title that slipped away from them last year at the NCAA championship.
The Nittany Lions will compete against about 15 teams in the 2007 NCAA championship. The team won it all in 2005 and it has hopes of earning its 10th national title under head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov.
The men will begin their competition today at 10 a.m. and it will continue through tomorrow evening.
The women's competition will take place on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. The event will be hosted by Drew University in Madison, N.J.
Twelve fencers have qualified to participate in the most competitive tournament of the season, which includes 144 of the most skilled fencers in the nation.
The men will be represented by foil fencers freshman Nick Chinman (26-7) and junior Jeffrey Chang (46-13), epee freshman Steffan Launer (35-9) and junior Arthur Urman (34-14) and sabre junior Franz Boghicev
(27-3) and senior Ian Farr (40-11).
The men's team is ranked No. 1 in the nation, moving up from its No.3 spot earlier in the season. The women have maintained a solid No. 1 ranking all season.
Representing the women in the foil division at the NCAA championship will be freshman Doris Willette (33-0) and senior Tamara Najm (39-6). Women's epee will be represented by freshman Anastasia Ferdman (53-9) and senior Case Szarwark (45-4) and completing the women's team will be sabre fencers senior Sophia Hiss (37-5) and Sophomore Caitlin Thompson (27-3).
Hiss, the team's captain and three time All-American, will be competing at nationals for the fourth time in her career. Last year, she finished in fifth place.
An experienced participant in the NCAA competition, Hiss said the team will struggle with its nerves more than anything else.
"It's not about skill," she said. "We're a very skilled team. As long as no one blows their day, we'll do really well."
Hiss said she's confident that the team can win, but anything is possible.
Last year, the men's team struggled at the NCAA championship -- losing to bitter rival Harvard. Penn State finished with 159 victories and Harvard with 165.
This year's biggest challenges for the Lions are Columbia and St. John's.
However, with the team's talent and Kaidanov's 40 plus years of experience as a fencing coach, the team should have few problems with the tougher schools.
Hiss said although Kaidanov is a man of few words, he has told the fencers that it's up to them to take everything they have learned and put it into action for the next four days.
