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FENCING Mackiewicz claims saber championship Andrew Mackiewicz became the sec- ond consecutive Penn State fencer to win the men's saber title at the NCAA championships, taking first place in the event March 20 at Ohio State. Mack- iewicz, a freshman from Westwood, Mass., follows Kaito Streets, who won the men's saber crown last year. "I was nervous, but super excited," Mackiewicz said. "I was ready to give it everything I've got. At the end of the day, it came down to who wanted the ti- tle most, and I believe at heart that I wanted it the most today." Streets was sixth in the event. As a team, defending national champion PSU finished second behind Columbia. ■ them and had to ask, 'What are you talking about?' I still don't believe it; I'm still shocked right now. The whole competition, I wasn't even thinking about my all- around score. I was 100 percent [focused on the] team the whole time. It just sur- prised me." Jepson was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in his career, and the Lions, who had been picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll, claimed their first conference title since 2008. They also got a big boost heading into the NCAA tournament April 9-11 at Oklahoma. The following day, Penn State added an individual Big Ten championship to its stellar weekend, as Howard won the still rings competition for the second year in a row. He admitted he was tired after competing in nine events during the two- day tournament – five on the first day during the team competition and four in the individual championships. But he said the atmosphere in Rec Hall helped him power through. "It was a tremendous crowd, a lot of energy," he said. "We had a lot of fans from home, and whenever you're com- peting with the team, it's an amazing ex- perience. It was fantastic." ■ SETTING A HIGH BAR Felleman posted a ca- reer-best score of 87.200 to edge two Illinois gym- nasts for the all-around title at Big Tens. Photo by Cameron Hart

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