LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego hosts the 26th prestigious BladeRunner fencing tournament this Saturday and Sunday in Liontree Arena at RIMAC.
 
BladeRunner allows high-level fencers to earn regional points in order to compete in national tournaments as part of the Regional Open Circuit (ROC).
 
Over 800 fencers are slated to take 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) will be contested at both the Division I and Junior levels.
 
Head coach Juan Ignacio Calderon returns for his fifth season to lead the Tritons along with 17 new additions to the team and 21 returners. A notable returner is USFCA Men's Saber Fencer of the Year, Shawn Kim, who took third at the NCAA championships in 2022.
 
Action begins at 8 a.m. PT each day. Fans can follow results from every duel live at FencingTimeLive.com.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, October 29
8 a.m. – Division 1-A Women's Saber
8 a.m. - Junior Men's Foil
8 a.m. - Junior Women's Epee
2:00 p.m. - Division 1-A Men's Epee
2:00 p.m. - Division 1-A Women's Foil
2:00 p.m. – Junior Men's Saber

Sunday, October 30
8 a.m. - Division 1-A Women's Epee
8 a.m. - Division 1-A Men's Foil
8 a.m. - Junior Women's Saber
2:00 p.m. – Division 1-A Men's Saber
2:00 p.m. - Junior Men's Epee
2:00 p.m. - Junior Women's Foil

2021 TRITON PODIUM FINISHES
UC San Diego came away with three podium finishes and 11 top-10 placings.

TRITON DIVISION 1-A RESULTS
Men's Epee
1. Ziad Khayat
2. Milan Rona
6. Isaac Ive
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

Women's Saber
T3. Sarah Shen
8. Roxane Cayrat
10. Julia Hill
16. Mohini Iyer
18. Janna Aboudaher
20. Maya Desai

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REWIND TO 2022 NATIONALS

Shawn Kim placed third and UC San Diego finished 13th as the NCAA National Collegiate Fencing Championships wrapped up Sunday at the University of Notre Dame. Kim's finish in Men's Sabre tied the highest-ever placing by any Triton at Nationals. He earned All-America status for his performance.

UC San Diego also equaled the team's best-ever finish at a full-field Nationals. A total of 27 teams were in contention in Indiana.

Justin Park also competed in Men's Sabre and finished in 19th position.

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Seven scholar-athletes from the UC San Diego fencing team have earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) All-Conference recognition. The MPSF announced its first-ever selections Monday. 

This is the first season that the MPSF is sponsoring the sport of fencing. Joining UC San Diego as members are Air Force, Incarnate Word, and Stanford.

2021-22 ALL-MPSF FENCING
First Team
Rafaella Gomes, Fr., Women's Foil
Shawn Kim, Jr., Men's Saber: West Region Saber Champion, MPSF Saber Champion
Vedran Markota, Jr., Men's Epee
Justin Park, Sr., Men's Saber
Sarah Shen, Jr., Women's Saber: West Region Saber Champion

Second Team
Julia Hill, Women's Saber, Sr.
Lawrence Song, So., Men's Foil

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THE WEAPONS

• Epee
Epee is the heaviest of the weapons. The target to score points is the entire body. It is the only weapon where points can be awarded to both sides if there is a double touch.

• Foil
Foil is the lightest of the three weapons and enacts a rule called right-of-way. Whoever is coming forward with the attack gets the point unless their opponent takes the right-of-way from them by parrying (deflecting/blocking) their blade. The target area for scoring points is the chest and the torso, marked by a light metallic vest called a lamé. 

• Sabre
Sabre also employs the right-of-way rule, but sabreurs and sabreuses slash instead of stab. Sabre touches happen so quickly that the referees won't even start the three-minute clock used to time the bout.

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FENCING GLOSSARY

• Advance: Take a step towards one's opponent.

• Attack: Movement or series of movements by which a fencer tries to score a point. In foil and saber, the fencer who attacks first acquires the "right-of-way." In order to execute an attack properly (i.e. one that the referee will acknowledge), the fencer's hand must be clearly extending towards their opponent's valid target in a threatening manner.

• Beat: Sharp tap on the opponent's blade to initiate an attack or provoke a reaction.

• En Garde: Position taken before fencing commences.

• Feint: A false attack intended to get a defensive reaction from the opposing fencer, thus creating the opportunity for a genuine attack ("feint-disengage attack").

• Fleche: Explosive, running attack (foil and epee only).

• Flunge: Action unique to sabre – a combination of a lunge and a fleche. Evolved recently after the FIE modified sabre rules in 1992 to prohibit running attacks.

• Lunge: Most common attacking technique, in which the fencer launches themselves at their opponent by pushing off from the back leg (which generally remains stationary).

• Parry: Defensive action in which a fencer blocks his opponent's blade.

• Point-in-Line: Action in which the fencer, who is generally out of attacking range, points their weapon at their opponent with their arm fully extended. A fencer who establishes a point in line has right-of-way, and their opponent cannot attack until they remove the blade from line by executing a beat.

• Recover: The return to the en guarde position after lunging.

• Riposte: Defender's offensive action immediately after parrying their opponent's attack.

• Second Intention: A tactic in which a fencer executes a convincing, yet false, action in hopes of drawing a true, committed reaction from their opponent.

• Stop Hit, Stop Cut (sabre only): A counter-action made at the moment of an opponent's hesitation, feint, or poorly executed attack. To be awarded the point, the fencer attempting to stop hit must clearly catch their opponent's tempo. Hence, if their Stop Hit is not "in time," the referee may award the touch to their attacker.

• Strip: Fencing area, 14 meters long by 2 meters wide.

• Touch: Score a point.

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BE SOCIAL

The UC San Diego Fencing Team can be found on Facebook, Instagram (@ucsdfencing), and Twitter (@ucsdfencing). 
 
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.