DURHAM, N.C. – Six members of the UC San Diego fencing teams are in North Carolina for the 2023 NCAA National Collegiate Championships, which run March 23-26 at Duke University.

Men's action takes place Thursday and Friday with the women to follow on Saturday and Sunday.

UC San Diego's qualifiers at Nationals include three in épée, two in foil, and one in sabre.

• Renee Zuhars (freshman) – women's épée
• Derek Rong (freshman) – men's épée
• Vedran Markota (senior) – men's épée

 

• Jacob Levy (freshman) – men's foil
• Larry Song (junior) – men's foil

 

• Shawn Kim (senior) – men's sabre

Kim is a three-time qualifier (2020, 2022, 2023). In 2022, Kim finished third which is the best finish of any men in the program's history. Song and Markota both qualified in 2021. Markota finished ninth to earn All-American honors and Song finished in 17th. Zuhars, Rong, and Levy will make their first appearances on the national stage.

For more information, including complete day-by-day results, please visit the Tournament Central page.
 
Arrangements have been made for all competition throughout the championships to be web streamed so that fans are able to support from afar. Web stream information for the round-robin portion of the competition will be available on the championships micro-site on https://goduke.com/.
 
The semi-finals and finals will be streamed on ESPN+.

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THE SCHEDULE
(all times Eastern)



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2023 MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS
UC San Diego men's and women's teams competed at the second inaugural MPSF Conference Championships all day Sunday. Vedran Markota took the men's epee title after going undefeated.

Competing in foil, Kyra Wu earned the bronze medal. Seeded number two, Wu fell to the silver medalist from Air Force. In epee, Tean Brooks and Renee Zuhars both finished on the podium. Seeded as the fourth and first seeds, Brooks and Zuhars faced one another in competition for the opening round. Zuhars later fell to the gold medalist and took silver. Brooks took the bronze medal.
 
In foil, Larry Song and Jacob Levy represented the Tritons. Levy was seeded number three with Song seeded number two. The teammates faced one another in the first round. Song advanced after a close bout with Levy, 15-12. He then took the silver medal after falling to the gold medalist. Shawn Kim and Jerry Pan also faced one another in the first round of competition as the two and three seed. Pan edged out Kim in a 15-10 victory. He later fell to the gold medalist 15-11. Kim earned the bronze medal and Pan took silver. Seeded first and fourth, Vedran Markota and Isaac Ive faced one another in the first round. Markota took the bout 15-11. Ive took the bronze medal and Markota went on to win the epee title.

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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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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). We just kicked off a new series called In the Classroom, where the Tritons talk about their majors and some of their favorite classes. Check it out!

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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 has begun a new era 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 garnered 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.