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Catantan sustains impressive show

Samantha Catantan
Samantha Catantan continues to make waves in the United States college fencing scene. Photo courtesy of James Patrick P. Trinidad

THE Philippines’ young fencing pride Samantha Catantan continued to sparkle in her United States college debut, helping Penn State women’s team in closing out the 2021 dual season with a 7-3 record.

Catantan, a gold medalist in the Asian U23 Fencing Championships, went 3-0 in two of her four duals in the women’s foil for the Nittany Lions in the Temple Invitational in Philadelphia Sunday.

Should the US NCAA gives the go-signal to stage the 2021 Division 1 fencing championships, Penn State will serve as the host site on March 25-28, where the 19-year old Catantan hopes to sustain her stellar performance from this month’s dual meets.

The Nittany Lions tallied a 3-1 record in the one-day meet. Penn State defeated North Carolina, 19-8, and St. John’s, 24-3, while splitting its two meetings with Temple, 18-9 in Round One, and 11-16 in Round Four.

A native of Quezon City, Catantan moved to the US last January after a successful UAAP high school career with University of the East, helping the Recto-based program in extending its girls fencing reign to nine years.

In the Ohio State Invitational earlier this month, Catantan went undefeated against Duke and North Carolina, as Penn State went 4-2 overall.