SAMANTHA Catantan ruled the Garrett Open women’s foil in Pennsylvania with a 15-9 victory over Penn State University teammate Arianna Proietti in the final.
The Filipina fencer took the crown after emerging as one of the 16 competitors who earned a berth in the knockout phase following three rounds of pool play.
[READ: Catantan wins SEA Gams gold]
Catantan defeated Annie Lin of Yale University, 15-8, and Renee Oymann of Temple, 15-7. She defeated Emme Zhou of Yale in slim fashion, 15-13, in the semifinals.
It has been an outstanding past few weeks for the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist as she also won gold in the Penn State U exhibition and a bronze in the Temple Open.
The competition is part of the Nittany Lions’ preparation for the US NCAA Fencing Championships where regional meets will begin next month.
Catantan is the first Filipina fencer to make it to the NCAA after competing for University of the East in high school, and being honed by national team coach Amat Canlas of Canlas Fencing.
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