The University of Pennsylvania’s fencing teams will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the Elite Invitational on November 8 and 9. The event, hosted at French Field House by Ohio State, features a competitive field including Harvard, Air Force, Northwestern, Wayne State, North Carolina, Cleveland State, Penn State, Denison, Notre Dame, Princeton, Duke, and the host school.
Earlier this season at the Temple Open held October 25-26 in Philadelphia, Penn had 12 athletes reach the podium. On the women’s side, Grace Hu won gold in epee. Kimberley Jang took silver in foil. Lila Paul finished sixth and Katherine Andres placed eighth in saber.
For the men’s team at Temple Open, Antonio Heathcock secured silver in foil. Nicholas Jin (epee), Conrad Lo (foil), Simon Lioznyansky (epee), and Jaesun Yun (saber) each earned bronze medals. Avery Townsend was sixth in epee while Ben Serafin and Alexander Wu both placed eighth—Serafin in epee and Wu in foil.
Several Quakers made their collegiate debuts during this opening tournament: Victoria Amore, Eda Cevikol, Misha Gujja, Jang herself again noted for her debut performance along with Boryana Mitova; Lila Paul; Cathleen Shi; Sophia Zheng for the women; as well as Simon Lioznyansky; Conrad Lo; Alexander Moses; and Alexander Wu for the men.
Penn brings back a roster that includes All-Ivy honorees Nicholas Jin and Joseph Wu as well as NCAA qualifiers Leah Blum and Victoria Kuznetsov. NCAA All-Americans Antonio Heathcock and Simon Kushkov also return this season.
Leadership roles have been assigned with sophomore Nicholas Jin joined by senior Simon Kushkov and Nicholas Wu serving as captains for the men’s squad. Leah Blum is captain for the women’s team alongside Malak Hamza and Grace Hu.
