PHILADELPHIA - The University Of Pennylvania men's and women's fencing teams begin their season this weekend at the Penn State Open at State College. The two-day open individual event takes place on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 8:30 a.m. each day. Penn will be joined by some of the top fencing programs in the nation as well as various independent fencers from club programs.
Follow Live - Live Stats
Fencing For Penn
Men
Epee:
James Armstrong,
Emon Daroian,
Sean Wilson,
Justin Yoo,
Foil:
Aaron Ahn,
Alexandre Amice,
Raymond Chen,
Michael Li,
Willie Upbin,
Jerry Wu
Sabre: Steven Lin,
Julian Merchant,
Connor Mills,
Andrew Sun,
Raphael Van Hoffelen
Women
Epee:
Vanessa Dib,
Kaija Gisolfi-McCready,
Emma Harris,
Kristina Khaw,
Katherine Sizov
Foil: Rachel Lambert, Naomi Pokin,
Lana Prieur,
Laura Sun,
Nicole Vaiani,
Sabre:
Miranda Gieg,
Lark Izenson,
Kathryn Khaw,
Sara Papp,
Alex Silberzweig
Seniors...
Aaron Ahn,
Raymond Chen,
Julian Merchant,
Faran Savitz,
Raphael Van Hoffelen, and
Justin Yoo will be entering their final seasons with The Red and Blue. The five seniors have captured an Ivy League title in every year with the program and will look to make it a perfect four-for-four this season. Yoo leads the group as he won the individual epee title last year at the Ivy Championships. Merchant, Van Hoffelen, and Chen all give the Quakers an experienced lineup as the trio each have recorded 100 wins in their careers.
The women have a much younger lineup, but
Kathryn Khaw,
Naomi Popkin,
Katherine Sizov, and
Simone Unwalla give the Quakers plenty of experience. Khaw has been named team captain for a second straight year while Popkin, Sizov, and Unwalla all have 100 career wins.
The Captains
The men's team will be captained by
Raymond Chen. Chen posted 30 wins for a third straight season in his junior year and won his 100th career bout against Yale at the Ivy League Championships. He went 2-0 against Brown in the final bout at the Ivy Championships to help the team clinch a share of its third straight title.
Connor Mills and
Justin Yoo have been named squad captains of the epee and sabre squads.
Kathryn Khaw has been named team captain for a second straight year for the women. Khaw had more than 40 wins for the second time in her career and earned a top-20 finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional.
Individual squad captains are
Nicole Vaiani, who will captain foil, and Kathrine Sizov, who will captain epee.
Last Season
The men won their third straight share of the Ivy League title last season. Yoo advanced all the way to the national championship bout at nationals on his way to his second straight All-American nod.
The women finished fourth at the Ivy League championships for the third time in four years and found success at the NCAA Championships earning two All-American honors. Vaiani's ninth place finish earned her honorable mention All-American. Joining her was
Nicole Wong who placed 11th after she won gold at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional.
As a team, the Quakers finished eighth at the NCAA championships for a second consecutive year.
