Catantan seeks podium in US NCAA
FILIPINO fencer Samantha Catantan of Penn State University (PSU) eyes a podium finish when she competes against the best in college in the United States as the 2024 edition of the US NCAA Fencing Championship kicks off Thursday, March 21 (Friday in
Manila), at the French Field House in Columbus, Ohio.
This is the fourth time that the 22-year-old Catantan has advanced to the main competition or main draw of the US NCAA after she finished second overall in the MidAtlantic/South Regionals fencing meet early this month that was held at Drew University in New Jersey.
Catantan finished in the Top 7 that secured her spot in the US NCAA where, as a freshman in 2021, she made history by winning all her bouts in the pool to finish with a 20-0 record, and made it all the way to the semifinal round, and eventually settled with a bronze trophy.
That achievement by Catantan led to her inclusion to the All-America Selection.
She did not make the podium in her second and third year, the reason why she is determined to end the drought and win a medal for the Penn State fencing team, which recently named her the captain for the women’s team.
Considering the left knee (ACL) injury she had in May 2023, she thinks of it as an added motivation.
“Excited to be able to make it again to the fencing championship of the US NCAA,” Catantan said. “Thinking about the process I needed to get through to be in this stage, it’s a blessing, and I’m focused on doing well. I prayed for this opportunity and God answered my prayers.”
A fourth-year accounting student-athlete of PSU and the first “homegrown” fencer from the Philippines to earn full athletic scholarship in a US NCAA Division 1 school, Catantan is the top foil fencer in women’s category in the country. She won the gold medal in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam (held in 2022).
However, in the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, Catantan tore her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the semifinal round. She won the match despite the injury, but was advised by team officials not to continue in the finals, which gave her the silver medal. She had surgery in June and had a rigorous rehabilitation process to regain her form.