M. Fencing sets high goals

Whether or not you know just what an epee is, senior Dan Borden is right -- the Penn men's fencing team this season should be very exciting. "I think a lot of people don't know about fencing," Borden said. "They assume that we just stand around and poke each other, but it's really a lot more exciting." Coming off their fourth-straight top-10 finish at the NCAAs, the Quakers are eyeing a shot at the program's 15th national championship and their first since 2001. The team will be led by a talented quartet of foils -- Yale Cohen, Andrew Radu, Jeff Breen and Stephen Gavalas. "I don't see anybody that's really a better foil team than us," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. These four fencers, all of whom return from last year, will have to live up to high expectations, as they look to defend their 2002 International Fencing Association foil title. "We always try to live up to our image of success," Cohen said. "We have fun with people trying to topple our empire. I think we'll beat all of our opponents." Cohen went 40-8 last year in dual meets and was selected to the first team All-Ivy squad along with teammates Breen and Radu. The men's sabre squad seems to be the weakest link for the Red and Blue. "The sabre team is not deep," Micahnik said. "We are building." The sabre squad is also rather young as there are no seniors. Two-thirds of the starters will be freshmen -- Mark Kindrachuk and Bill Caulin. Micahnik is expecting big things from Caulin. "He is much quicker than anybody who he is going to fence, and they're not going to know until it's too late," Micahnik said. Despite the inexperience at the position, Micahnik is very confident about the sabre team. "I'm not concerned about how good they look on paper because these guys are pretty hot," he said. Perhaps the most crucial piece of the Quakers' puzzle this season will be the epee team. "We lost a lot of close bouts last year, but this year we are a very clutch team," Borden said. "Despite losing all three starters from last year, we are easily as competitive, if not more, than last year." As a team, Penn is looking to bring home an Ivy League title following last year's third place finish. Its biggest Ancient Eight competitors will be defending champion Columbia, second place Yale as well as Harvard. The one team that truly has the Quakers nervous is Harvard. "It used to be that you didn't worry about Harvard," Micahnik said. "Now you worry a lot." Tomorrow, the Quakers will head to State College, Pa. for the Penn State Multi-Meet. While Penn won't take on the host school until later in the season, it will take on a talented foursome of schools -- University of North Carolina, Duke, Hunter and Stanford. "The only team that should give us any type of trouble is Stanford," Cohen said. "I think we'll pull out a victory." Micahnik also believes that the Tarheels and Blue Devils will also give the Quakers a tough time. "Duke and UNC are what I like to call 'peer performers'," he said. "If we fence well, we beat them. If we don't fence well, we won't beat them. Both teams are dangerous."

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