LA JOLLA, Calif. – Throughout the summer, UC San Diego Athletics will be taking a look back at the greatest moments and accomplishments from the 2019-20 school year. Each Thursday, a Throwback Thursday segment will be featured on UC San Diego Athletics' Instagram and Twitter accounts.
This week, we are highlighting the fencing team's outstanding performance at the 2020 NCAA West Regional.
Competing against rivals Air Force, Incarnate Word, and Stanford in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Tritons automatically qualified five scholar-athletes for the NCAA National Collegiate Championships while producing one regional champion and 11 All-Western Fencing Conference (WFC) honorees.
"We delivered a very solid performance across the board and we have never had so many all-region selections spread across the different squads," said UC San Diego head coach
Juan Ignacio Calderon. "This is exactly what we need to compete with the best nationally. Our five qualifiers for Nationals looked very strong and we were just a few touches short from getting another three or four more."
On the men's side, the top four finishers in Epee along with the top two finishers in both Foil and Sabre automatically earned spots at Nationals. Four Tritons, including
Benjamin Hadler,
Ziad Khayat,
Shawn Kim, and
Justin Park, did just that.
Kim, a freshman, and Park, a sophomore, went 1-2 in Sabre. With his win, Kim was named the West Region Sabre Champion. Hadler, a sophomore, placed second in Foil, and Khayat, a junior, was fourth in Epee.
For the women, the top two finishers in each of the three weapons at Regionals punched their ticket to Nationals. Senior
Amelia Harrison battled to a second place podium position in Epee.
Unfortunately for the quintet, the NCAA canceled all remaining winter and spring sports championships in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Collegiate Fencing Championships were slated for March 19-22 in Detroit.
It would have been the second trip to Nationals for both Hadler and Khayat. In 2019, Hadler placed 12th in Foil and Khayat was seventh in Epee, which was the best-ever finish by a UC San Diego male fencer at Nationals. Both earned All-America honors for their performances. For Harrison, Kim, and Park, 2020 was the first time they had qualified.
In addition to the five already mentioned, six other Tritons picked up All-WFC recognition for finishing among the top four in their respective weapons at the West Regional including
Alex Brondum (fourth in Women's Foil),
Gayatri Bhanot (third in Women's Foil),
Miya Coimbra (third in Women's Sabre),
Rishi Ranadive (fourth in Men's Foil),
Sarah Shen (fourth in Women's Sabre), and
Emma Zmurk (third in Women's Epee).
MEN'S RESULTS
Epee (13 competitors)
*1. Robin Cheong, Stanford
*2. Matthew Han, Air Force
*3. Stephan Kimatian, Air Force
*4. Ziad Khayat, UC San Diego
5. Tristan Krueger, Stanford
6. Aiden Kung, Stanford
7. Thomas Petrosewciz, Incarnate Word
8. Calvin Smith, Air Force
9. Brandon Chien, UC San Diego
10. Brandon Benavides, Incarnate Word
11. Zack Yung, Air Force
12. Patrick Satterfield, Incarnate Word
13. Scott Phillips, UC San Diego
Foil (14 competitors)
*1. Lucas Orts, Stanford
*2. Benjamin Hadler, UC San Diego
*3. Nester Levin, Air Force
4. Rishi Ranadive, UC San Diego
5. Julian Cheng, Stanford
6. Aidan Chu, UC San Diego
7. Nathan Jeon, UC San Diego
8. Jake Thayer, Incarnate Word
T9. Josh Kang, Stanford
T9. Ignacio McGoff-Medero, Air Force
11. Jordan Griffith, Air Force
12. Brandon Lee, UC San Diego
13. Justin Kang, Stanford
14. Blake Ruffner, Incarnatre Word
Sabre (12 competitors)
*1. Shawn Kim, UC San Diego
*2. Justin Park, UC San Diego
3. Noah Matricciani, Stanford
4. Samuel Kwong, Stanford
5. Matthew Goode, Air Force
6. Calvin Zau, Stanford
7. Alexandre Leonelli, UC San Diego
8. Eugene Ko, Stanford
9. Syed Adam Emir Putra, UC San Diego
10. William Nikolai, Air Force
11. Adam De Sequera, Incarnate Word
12. Alex Wang, Air Force
WOMEN'S RESULTS
Epee (14 competitors)
*1. Hanna Lee, Stanford
*2. Amelia Harrison, UC San Diego
3. Emma Zmurk, UC San Diego
4. Nicole Agob, Air Force
5. Amanda Han, Stanford
6. Adda Lantigua, Air Force
7. Isabella Peceli, Incarnate Word
8. Sophie Davis, Air Force
9. Ariane Mohabir, UC San Diego
10. Juliana Peceli, Incarnate Word
11. Emily Beihold, UC San Diego
12. Helen Landwehr, Air Force
13. Caroline Baker, Stanford
14. Desiray Rodriguez, Incarnate Word
Foil (12 competitors)
*1. Madeline Liao, Stanford
*2. Oleksandra Rebchunovska, Incarnate Word
3. Gayatri Bhanot, UC San Diego
4. Alex Brondum, UC San Diego
5. Kaitlyn Guo, Air Force
6. Allison Wong, Air Force
7. Konami Masui, UC San Diego
8. Anna Lee, Stanford
9. Myrka Boyd, Incarnate Word
10. Woojoo Kwon, Stanford
11. Alyssa De La Cruz, UC San Diego
12. Liana Keesing, Stanford
Sabre (11 competitors)
*1. Leanne Singleton-Comfort, Air Force
*2. Erin Shea, Air Force
3. Miya Coimbra, UC San Diego
4. Sarah Shen, UC San Diego
5. Julia Hill, UC San Diego
6. Valery Garcia, Stanford
7. Caroline Wang, Stanford
8. Rose Adams, Stanford
9. Maya Desai, UC San Diego
10. Kathy Hu, Stanford
11. Alexandra Krick, Incarnate Word
* 2020 National Collegiate Fencing Championships automatic qualifier
Be sure to check the UC San Diego Athletics'
Instagram and
Twitter accounts every Thursday throughout the month of July for more #TBT moments.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program begins a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
