W. Fencing falls at NCAAs

(Penn: 13th at NCAAs)

This is what it all comes down to - the NCAA Championships. The Penn women's fencing team brought five members - the most ever in the history of the program - to the competition at Drew University. Yet, the Quakers, both individually and as a whole, did not bring their "A" game and returned to Philadelphia with a disappointing 13th-place finish out of 24 teams. Penn eppeist Kimberly Linton placed 17th, while foilists teammates Emanuelle Humblet and Lauren Staudinger finished 18th and 20th, respectively. In her last collegiate competition, captain Mindy Nguyen - who suffered from a case of mild car-sickness - took 21st place in the sabre. "I really needed some boneine," she said. "The dizziness put a damper on my last matches ever. Now I am just an alumna." To add to the disappointment, Penn placed below Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Temple - teams that the Red and Blue beat at the IFAs less than a month ago. Moreover, each individual lost bouts to competitors who they had beaten during the regular season. "All of those victories that we had [during the season] and should have had [at the championships], we didn't," Humblet said. A few members of the Quakers said that their disappointing finish at NCAAs may have been connected with a lag in training during spring break, which was a week before the competition and left the team ill-prepared for the most important meet of the season. "Because spring break was a week before, we didn't have time to train," Humblet said." But extra practice time may not have benefited the Quakers too much against a slew of formidable competitors. The fencing field in NCAA Division I - the best in the nation - is getting stronger. "The field is the toughest I've ever been in," Linton, who returned to the competition for her third time, said. "It was really hard." With the roof for entries per team standing at six, Penn almost brought a full team. Of the Quakers' squad, only two - Nyguen and fellow sabreist Abby Lifter - are not returning next year, leaving a great prospect for the future. And the future is on the fencers' minds already. "There is always next year," Linton said. Despite this year's disappointment, Penn is in position to send another large contingency to National Championships once again.

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