MEET THE NITTANY LIONS Nicolette
Medora
Freshman
Freshman Los Altos Hills, CA
Vigna Thornwood, NY Epee
HIGH SCHOOL/PERSONAL: Nicolette Vigna comes to Penn State from Thornwood, N.Y. Prior to joining the Nittany Lions, Vigna competed with the Fencing Academy of Westchester under the direction of personal coach Alex Zurabishvili. Vigna earned a silver medal at the 2015 Junior Olympics for her performance on epee. Vigna chose Penn State for its excellence in academics and athletics.
Epee
HIGH SCHOOL/PERSONAL: Before moving to Los Altos Hills, Calif., Medora McCarthy was born and raised in Chipping Sodbury, England. McCarthy was a member of the 2014 Cadet British National Team and 2015 Junior British National Team. McCarthy was the #1 British Junior Women’s Epee and placed eighth in the USFA’s Junior Women’s Epee Summer 2015 Nationals.
Shelby
DeAna
Freshman
Freshman
Kaplan
Oliver
Niantic, CT
Montclair, NJ
Epee
Sabre
HIGH SCHOOL/PERSONAL: Shelby Kaplan comes to Penn State from Niantic, Conn. Kaplan fenced for the East Lyme High School fencing team for four years, leading the Vikings to fourth place in the state championship as a senior captain. Kaplan also fenced for the Thames River Fencing Club under the direction of head coaches David Ghilchrist and Keith Knight. Kaplan is majorig in journalism and hopes one day to become a magazine editor.
Erin
McLoughlin Freshman
San Jose, Costa Rica Sabre
HIGH SCHOOL/PERSONAL: Erin McLoughlin is a native of San Jose, Costa Rica. Her most memorable moment of her fencing career thus far was when she placed top-15 at the 2014 Panamerican Championships. 10
McCarthy
PENN STATE STATE 2015-16 2015-16 • •FENCING FENCING
HIGH SCHOOL/PERSONAL: DeAna Oliver comes from Montclair, N.J. In her senior year at Montclair High School, Oliver was the District Five Champion and placed 4th in States and 1st in the Team All-State competition for N.J. She is majoring in kinesiology.