PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – UC San Diego fencing finished competition at the Elite Invitational against many of the top squads in the nation, hosted by UPenn on Saturday.
 
The Tritons were joined on the strips by Air Force (men only), No. 11 Temple (women only), No. 8 UPenn, No. 6 Cornell (women only), UNC, LIU, and Princeton.
 
On the men's side, the Tritons went 3-2 with victories over Air Force, UNC, and LIU. Shawn Kim wielding the saber went 12-3 on the day. In the foil, Jacob Levy went 5-2 with Derek Rong leading in epee with a 9-6 record. The men were able to get revenge over UNC (19-8), after falling to them two weeks ago at the Western Invitational.
 
On the women's side, the gold and blue went 1-5. Renee Zuhars had another outstanding weekend, going 12-5 in the epee, leading the epee squad to a 5-1 record with their only loss to No. 1 Princeton. Rafaella Gomes led foil with a 12-6 record. In the saber, Zara Fearns had the best record with 12-9. Making history this weekend, the Triton women defeated No. 11 Temple, 15-12, for the first time in program history.
 
Women's Results
Wins:

• Temple (#11) 15-12 1^st time in program history

Losses:

• Cornell (#6) 11-16
• UNC (#14) 13-14
• UPenn (#8) 11-16
• Princeton (#1) 5-22
• LIU 8-19

 
Men's Results
Wins:

• Airforce 17-10
• UNC 19-8
• LIU 21-6

Losses:

• UPenn (#8) 10-17
• Princeton (#5) 8-19

 
QUOTABLE
With the team going 4-7 this weekend, head coach Juan Ignacio Calderon commented, "Another step in the right direction, especially on the men's side with a key decisive win against UNC 19-8 after losing two weeks ago to them 14-15. The women's team started with a historic win against Temple 15-12 which was a first in program history."
 
Calderon added, "Shawn Kim delivered another stellar performance with 80% win ratio and freshman Renee Zuhars led the women's epee squad with 71% win ratio being our best female fencer for the second time this season."
 
UP NEXT
The Elite Invitational wraps up the fall competition for the two squads and they will return to the strips in January when they host Wellesley College in Main Gym on the UC San Diego campus.
 
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.