Dec. 8, 2009
Pittsburgh, Pa.- The Penn State fencing team ended the Pittsburgh Open with two fencers coming in first and second place in the tournament. A select number of the entire team competed in the three-day event.
Sophomore Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia, Pa.) dominated his division, finishing in first in the men's foil. His final victory for first place came against Israeli Olympic fencer, Tomer Or.
In the men's saber, sophomore Aleksander Ochocki (Clark, N.J.) fell short of making the top 12, ending in 16th place.
In the women's competitions, junior Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.) finished tied for third place in the foil and senior Keri Byerts (Webster, N.Y.) came in sixth place in the epee. Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov was very content with Byert's finishing, saying she did a great job this weekend.
Sophomore Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.) had the strongest finish in the women's competition, coming in second place in the saber. Aksamit continues to improve on her freshman season that earned her an appearance in the NCAA Championships.
The men and women's fencing team will get a break for the next few weeks before participating in the Junior World Cup in Budapest, Hungary. The competition begins on Saturday, Jan. 2 and concludes on Monday, Jan. 4.
For more information on the Pittsburgh Open and the results, please visit the NAC C Tournament page at usfencing.org.