UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The University of California San Diego placed a program-best seventh of 19 teams and Emma Zmurk garnered All-America honors as the National Collegiate Fencing Championships came to a close Sunday at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Arena.

Over four days of men's and women's five-touch, round robin bouts, UC San Diego amassed 99 points to earn its historic seventh-place finish. The Tritons were just six points behind sixth-place North Carolina and seven points back of fifth-place St. John's.

The team's previous best showing was 13th, accomplished in 2008 and again in 2019.

Zmurk, a senior epeeist, placed 11th with an 11-10 record over five rounds of round robin bouts. The Tritons' Epee Squad Captain, she compiled an even indicator with 83 touches scored and 83 touches received. Zmurk had several impressive victories which included beating Long Island University's Laura Fekete, who went on to win the national title later in the day. Zmurk also defeated Notre Dame's Miriam Grady, who took third overall, as well as Julia Falinska of Northwestern, the 2018 World Cadet silver medalist. 

It was Zmurk's second time competing at Nationals as she also qualified in 2018, finishing 17th as a freshman.

Freshman Tean Brooks finished 17th in Women's Epee Sunday after going 7-14 with a -22 indicator (63 TS/85 TR). Highlights included a win over Notre Dame's Kaylin Hsieh, who ended up placing second at Nationals and is the 2018 World Cadet champion. In addition, Brooks defeated Falinska.

In Women's Foil, senior Konami Masui was 20th and junior Erica Kuen was 22nd. Masui held a 3-17 record with a -36 indicator (59 TS/95 TR), while Kuen went 2-18 with a -56 (35 TS/91 TR).

The Women's Saber event saw junior Julia Hill come in 18th and freshman Janna Aboudaher take 20th. Hill went 5-16 with a -36 indicator (61 TS/97 TA) and Aboudaher was 4-17 with a -35 indicator (57 TS/92 TA).

Joining Fekete as national champions were Stefani Deschner of Notre Dame, who took the Women's Foil crown, and Kara Linder, also from Notre Dame, who is now the Women's Saber title holder. Linder's younger brother Luke won the Men's Saber title Friday. 

All weapons feature a 24-competitor field and fencers placing among the top-12 receive All-America honors. Zmurk was the third Triton to finish as an All-American as sophomore Vedran Markota was ninth in Epee and junior Benjamin Hadler was 10th in Foil Friday.

Notre Dame won the team championship with 201 points and was followed by Penn State (182) and Duke (130). It is the 11th national title for the Fighting Irish.

Each team receives a point for every victory its fencers score throughout the four days, with the highest scoring team - men and women combined - coming away with the national title.

UC San Diego received 24 points from Men's Saber, 22 from Men's Foil, 21 from Men's Epee, 18 from Women's Epee, nine from Women's Saber, and five from Women's Foil.

HEAD COACH JUAN IGNACIO CALDERON SAYS
• "This is a great finish to a very special season. With a full team of 12 fencers, we were hoping to place a bit better. Most of the east coast teams had more regular season competitions and were more in tune for Nationals where every fencer has to fence 23 different opponents over two long days. Nevertheless, we are very proud of what we have accomplished." 

• "We are excited about the future. Nine out of the 12 that qualified will return next year and will be a key asset to pass on the experience to the rest of the team." 

TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego's previous high mark of qualifiers for Nationals was six in 2008. 
• It was the third Nationals appearance for Tritons Benjamin Hadler (Foil) and Ziad Khayat (Epee).
• It was the second Nationals appearance for Tritons Konami Masui (Foil), Justin Park (Saber), and Emma Zmurk (Epee).
• Jana Aboudaher (Saber), Tean Brooks (Epee), Justin Cho (Saber), Julia Hills (Saber), Eric Kuen (Foil), Vedran Markota (Epee), and Lawrence Song (Foil) were making their first appearance at Nationals.

THE TEAM
For the first time, UC San Diego fielded a full team of 12 at Nationals, meaning that two men and two women competed in each of the three weapons. The Triton roster included three freshmen, two sophomores, four juniors, and three seniors. UC San Diego was one of just three institutions in Pennsylvania with a full team as Notre Dame and Penn State also had 12 competitors. Here's a look at UC San Diego's roster.

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