The UC San Diego fencing team opened its collegiate competition season against many of the top squads in the nation at the Western Invitational, hosted by Air Force Saturday and Sunday.

The Tritons were joined on the strips by Air Force, Brandeis, Columbia, Incarnate Word, New Jersey Institute of Technology, North Carolina, Northwestern (women only), Notre Dame, and Stanford.

Several Tritons came away with outstanding individual performances.

On the men's side, junior Shawn Kim posted an incredible 19-5 record in saber. He was the lone saber fencer for UC San Diego due to recent injuries to the squad. Kim defeated all three rivals from Columbia, including Christopher Walker, a member of the United States National Team.

In 2020, Kim was the West Region Saber Champion as well as a USFCA All-America Honorable Mention performer.

For the Triton women, a pair of freshmen had impressive results in their collegiate debuts. Logan Daranouvong and Rafaella Gomes each went 15-11, Daranouvong in epee and Gomes in foil.

The UC San Diego women earned team victories against Air Force, Brandeis, Incarnate Word, and NJIT. The men, who began every match-up with six losses in saber due to having just one competitor instead of three, defeated Brandeis and Incarnate Word.

UC San Diego was coming off a packed weekend as host of the 25th BladeRunner Tournament at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla, California. Roughly 800 competitors took to the strips to compete in Division 1-A and Junior levels of men's and women's epee, foil, and saber. The Tritons posted three podium finishes and 11 top-10 placings at the Division 1-A tier.

This is UC San Diego's first season competing as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The conference announced in early August that it will begin sponsoring the sport.

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TRITON LINEUP
Epee (M): Brandon Chien, Isaac Ive, Justin Phen, Milan Rona
Epee (W): Tean Brooks, Logan Daranouvong, Ariane Mohabir, Samantha Sayson
Foil (M): Jason Chin, Nathan Jeon, Rishi Ranadive, Lawrence Song
Foil (W): Alyssa De La Cruz, Rafaella Gomes, Joanne Luong, Kyra Wu
Saber (M): Shawn Kim
Saber (W): Janna Aboudaher, Roxane Cayrat, Maya Desai, Sarah Shen

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WHAT HEAD COACH JUAN IGNACIO CALDERON HAD TO SAY
"I am really proud of the performance of the team. The Western Invitational has become the strongest meet in the country and we showed everybody that we are a team you can't underestimate. We faced big challenges with last minutes injuries, but the team showed tremendous character and perseverance. We ended up focusing more on giving everybody an opportunity to build the foundation for their individual season and we are very happy that at least 40 percent of the team is well positioned in the ranks after this first competition."

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2021 WESTERN INVITATIONAL RESULTS

Saturday, November 13
Women
• Northwestern 16, UC San Diego 11
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 5-4
Saber: 6-3

• UC San Diego 22, Brandeis 5
Epee: 7-2
Foil: 9-0
Saber: 5-2

• Notre Dame 26, UC San Diego 1
Epee: 9-0
Foil: 9-0
Saber: 8-1

• Columbia 25, UC San Diego 2
Epee: 9-0
Foil: 8-1
Saber: 8-1

• North Carolina 15, UC San Diego 12
Epee: 3-6
Foil: 5-4
Saber: 7-2

Men
• UC San Diego 20, Brandeis 7
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 6-3
Saber: 9-0

• Notre Dame 21, UC San Diego 6
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 8-1
Saber: 8-1

• Columbia 21, UC San Diego 6
Epee: 7-2
Foil: 8-1
Saber: 6-3

• North Carolina 15, UC San Diego 12
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 3-6
Saber: 7-2

Sunday, November 14
Women
• UC San Diego 15, Incarnate Word 12
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 3-6
Saber: 7-2

• UC San Diego 14, NJIT 13
Epee: 8-1
Foil: 2-7
Saber: 3-6

• Stanford 16, UC San Diego 11
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 6-3
Saber: 5-4

• UC San Diego 20, Air Force 7
Epee: 4-5
Foil: 9-0
Saber: 7-2

Men
• UC San Diego 15, Incarnate Word 12
Epee: 7-2
Foil: 5-4
Saber: 3-6

• NJIT 15, UC San Diego 12
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 4-5
Saber: 6-3

• Stanford 19, UC San Diego 8
Epee: 7-2
Foil: 5-4
Saber: 7-2

• Air Force 16, UC San Diego 11
Epee: 4-5
Foil: 5-4
Saber: 7-2

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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 began 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 38 have earned 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.