There have been many great women athletes and coaches who led Penn State teams to successful seasons, earning conference and national honors in the fifty years since Title IX enactment. This section displays only a small sampling of images of athletes and coaches who were among the best during their collegiate careers at Penn State. The collection link below leads to the collection guide and inventory of more than 11,000 men’s and women’s athletes, coaches, and administrators dating back to the 1880s. Materials in each file may include photos, biographical material, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles for a specific athlete.
Beth Alphin
Beth Alphin was the head coach of the men’s and women’s fencing teams from 1968 to 1985, compiling a 249-31-1 record.
Doris Willette
Doris Willette competed on the women’s fencing team during her freshman year, then red-shirted her 2007-2008 season to train for the World Fencing Championships. She returned to Penn State to complete her final three years which ended in 2011. She won the NCAA championship in 2007 and 2009, finished in second in 2010 and got third place in 2011, finishing her career with a 117-14 record in foil. Willette was number 60 on the list of Penn State Top 100 All-Time Athletes in 2020.
Willette was an alternate for the U.S. women’s fencing team at the 2008 Beijing Games and helped the U.S. women’s foil team to a sixth-place finish at the 2012 London Games.
Jana Angelakis
Jana Angelakis competed for Penn State from 1981 to 1985 and was the AIAW women’s foil champion in her freshman year in 1981. She won the NCAA individual foil championship and helped lead Penn State to the national title in 1983. Angelakis won the Southland Olympia Award as the outstanding amateur athlete in fencing in 1983. She finished her career with a record of 115-2, suffering only two losses in her freshman year.
Angelakis qualified for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Fencing team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics as the youngest member of the team at age 18 and helped the U.S. women’s team to a sixth-place finish in foil at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
She was number 19 on the list of Penn State 100 Greatest Athletes in 2020.
Olga Chernyak
Olga Chernyak was a member of the women’s fencing team from 1990 to 1994. She helped lead the team to the NCAA Championship in 1991 and finished second to teammate Olga Kalinovskaya in the 1993 NCAA Finals. Chernyak was an All-American in 1991, 1992, and 1993 and finished with a dual meet career record of 189-10, the most wins of any woman when she graduated.
She competed on the U.S. Women’s National team at the World Championships and World University Games in 1993 and was named as an alternate to the U.S. Women’s fencing team for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Emmanuil Kaidanov
Emmanuil Kaidanov was the head coach of the women’s fencing team from 1986 to 2013 with a record of 423-58. He lead the team to twelve NCAA combined championships, including six consecutive titles from 1995 to 2000 and twenty top three finishes in his Penn State career.
Olga Kalinovskaya
Olga Kalinovskaya was a member of the women’s fencing team from 1993 to 1996. She won the NCAA title all four years of her collegiate career and helped lead the team to victory at the 1995 and 1996 championships. She finished with a career record of 180-5. Kalinovskaya was number 28 on the list of Penn State 100 Greatest Athletes in 2020.
Here is the link to the athlete’s and coaches’ files collection: Pennsylvania State University, Intercollegiate Athletics public relations files