LA JOLLA, Calif. ? On Saturday and Sunday, January 10 and 11, the UC San Diego fencing team hosted the well-attended annual BladeRunner tournament in RIMAC Arena. 167 fencers from California and various other states competed in six different events. This was an individual tournament, which allowed the entire Triton team to gain valuable experience against fencers of various skill levels. The format divided the fencers into pools of six or seven, fencing each other in 5-touch bouts. Those results were used for seeding into a direct elimination table of 15-touch bouts leading to the gold medal bout. Four plaques were awarded in each event; first, second, and third place which is shared by two fencers. The champions also have their names added to BladeRunner's perpetual trophy.
Two team members won championships for the Tritons. On Saturday, second year Cognitive Science major Ben Dorn became the men's foil champion in a spectacular display of fencing. On his way to winning, Dorn defeated the reigning champion and UCSD alumnus Tedd Padgitt in an exciting 15-14 bout. In another tough bout he defeated All-American, former teammate and recent graduate Cameron Sprowles 15-13. In his gold medal bout, he defeated Nick Kazimiroff from Boston College, 15-5.
On Sunday UCSD had another champion. Pilar Alicea (junior, Psychology major) dominated the women's foil competition. In her direct elimination bouts she earned victories of 15-4, 15-3, and 15-6. Her closest encounter was in the gold medal bout, where she defeated senior and UCSD teammate Zitin Kachru 15-9.
Along with Kachru's second place finish in women's foil, other top placements went to Armin Chan who took third in men's foil. In women's sabre, Samantha Rojales and Alicia Trigiero tied for third.
UCSD alumni also placed high in the tournament. Two-time All-American Janet (Wertz) Marsh placed second in women's epee, and Rosanna Lacarra took third. Former team captain Bret Martin earned third in men's sabre. Another former captain, Tim Tibbs, placed third in men's epee as did alum Hal Aljibury.
Next weekend the best of the Triton fencers travel to Louisville Kentucky to fence in their season's strongest individual tournament. This will be a North American Cup, featuring some of the world's best fencers.
