LA JOLLA, Calif. — The United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) released its annual Pre-Season Coaches' Poll on Monday, with the UC San Diego men's team earning a No. 15 ranking. The Tritons are ranked in advance of a new season for the second-straight time after being selected No. 10 last year.
UC San Diego returns all three male fencers that competed at the 2024 NCAA Fencing National Championships. Junior
Scott Lao (foil), junior
Arnav Raja (saber) and sophomore
Hananiah So (saber) lead a Tritons side that features 13 returning scholar-athletes and five newcomers.
So was named last season's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Men's Newcomer of the Year and was one of four Tritons to earn All-Conference honors. Head coach
Juan Ignacio Calderon is now in his seventh season at UC San Diego after being named the MPSF Head Coach of the Year for 2023-24.
The full USFCA Pre-Season Coaches' Poll is below.
2024-25 USFCA MEN'S FENCING PRE-SEASON COACHES' POLL
| No. |
School |
Pts. |
| 1. |
Harvard |
141 |
| 2. |
Notre Dame |
139 |
| 3. |
Columbia |
133 |
| 4. |
Princeton |
119 |
| 5. |
Penn State |
102 |
| 6. |
Ohio State |
101 |
| 7. |
Penn |
86 |
| 8. |
St. John's |
75 |
| 9. |
Yale |
63 |
| 10. |
Duke |
37 |
| 11. |
NYU |
35 |
| 12. |
Boston College |
32 |
| 13. |
Sacred Heart |
20 |
| 14. |
Johns Hopkins |
18 |
| T-15. |
NJIT |
15 |
| T-15. |
UC San Diego |
15 |
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 begins a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West 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 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
