LA JOLLA, California - The 25th running of UC San Diego's prestigious BladeRunner fencing tournament took place Saturday and Sunday inside RIMAC Arena.
Close to 800 fencers took to the strips throughout the two days. All six weapons (men's/women's epee, men's/women's foil, men's/women's saber) were contested at both the Division I-A and Junior levels. The Tritons competed at the Division 1-A tier.
UC San Diego came away with three podium finishes and 11 top-10 placings.
Highlighting the tournament for UC San Diego was a one-two finish in Men's Epee. Senior
Ziad Khayat earned his first career BladeRunner victory as a Triton and freshman
Milan Rona was second.
It was Khayat's third BladeRunner podium as a Triton and fifth overall. A two-time All-American at the collegiate level, he finished second in 2019 and third in 2018. Khayat also stood on the podium twice prior to coming to UC San Diego. In 2016, he finished first in Junior Men's Epee and third in Division 1-A Men's Epee.
Two more Tritons finished in the top-10 in Men's Epee as freshman
Isaac Ive was sixth and senior
Brandon Chien took seventh.
On the women's side, the top performance came from junior
Sarah Shen as she found herself on the podium for the first time after placing third in Saber. In the semi-finals, she fell to former Junior World Champion Natalia Botello from Mexico.
Shen led a trio of Tritons into the top-10 as freshman
Roxane Cayrat was eighth and senior
Julia Hill was 10th.
Other top-10 Tritons included senior
Nathan Jeon (sixth in Men's Foil), freshman Rafella Gomes (seventh in Women's Foil), sophomore
Lawrence Song (ninth in Men's Foil), and freshman
Logan Daranouvong (10th in Women's Epee).
Part of the Regional Open Circuit (ROC), BladeRunner allows high-level fencers to earn regional points in order to compete in national tournaments.
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TRITON DIVISION 1-A RESULTS
Men's Epee
1.
Ziad Khayat
2.
Milan Rona
6. Isaac Eve
7.
Brandon Chien
55.
Justin Phen
Women's Epee
10.
Logan Daranouvong
14.
Ariane Mohabir
34.
Samantha Sayson
44.
Tiara Kwon
45.
Anika Soin
52.
Tean Brooks
Men's Foil
6.
Nathan Jeon
9.
Lawrence Song
14.
Jason Chin
17.
Rishi Ranadive
43
Daman Heer
Women's Foil
7.
Rafaella Gomes
19.
Alyssa De La Cruz
23.
Kyra Wu
32. Alexandra Brondum
T36.
Erica Kuen
Men's Saber
13.
Phileas Auray
DNF
Syed Adam Emir Putra
Women's Saber
T3.
Sarah Shen
8.
Roxane Cayrat
10.
Julia Hill
16.
Mohini Iyer
18. Jana Aboudaher
20.
Maya Desai
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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.
