UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Freshman Katherine Kim had an award-winning debut at the National Collegiate Fencing Championships, earning Second Team All-American honors after finishing seventh in the women's foil competition. Kim is the 28th All-American in program history and had the third-best finish all-time by a Triton female fencer.
 
The other four UC San Diego fencers competing at the competition were also first-time qualifiers. Dayus Gohel (men's epee) finished 18th, Sunny Sharma (men's epee) finished 21st, Alexandra Cody (women's saber) finished 22nd and Alice Lan (women's epee) finished 23rd.
 
The National Championship was hosted by Penn State and ran Thursday-Sunday at the Nittany Lions' Multi-Sport Facility. Each weapon had 24 participants, who competed against each other in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. The top four finishes in each weapon advanced to fence in single-elimination semifinal and final 15-touch bouts to crown the national champions.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Kim sprained her ankle last week and was on crutches until Friday morning, but that did not stop the freshman from getting out to a hot start on Saturday. She went 11-4 on day one, with her best win coming over Harvard's Lauren Scruggs, who won a team gold and individual silver medal at the Paris Olympics.
 
On Sunday, Kim won four of her nine bouts to finish with a record of 15-8. Four of those losses were by margins of 5-4 or 5-3.
 
Gohel and Sharma both competed in men's epee. The duo ended up with 22 bouts after one fencer withdrew, and both Tritons had at least two touches in all but one of their bouts.
 
Gohel won nine of his bouts. The freshman also had three bouts that he lost 5-4 and four that he lost 5-3.
 
Sharma won seven of his bouts. The junior came incredibly close in several others, losing 5-4 on eight different occasions.
 
Cody fenced 22 bouts in women's saber, winning seven. The sophomore landed a touch in 20 of her bouts.
 
Lan fenced 23 bouts in women's epee, winning five. The freshman landed a touch in 21 of her bouts and lost five matchups by scores of either 5-4 or 5-3.

QUOTABLE
"Being an All-American feels amazing. To know I am part of this elite group of athletes is a great feeling, and I am very proud to represent the Tritons on this grand stage," Kim said. "All the hard work I have put into this season has lead to this moment, and I am very grateful for it. Trusting myself, my abilities and my preparation really helped keep up the positive energy to push through this weekend. The trust from my teammates and coaching staff here and back home really pushed me to give my all and keep fighting no matter what. Even with my injury, I knew I had to give my all. Over time, I was so focused on the competition I forgot I was even injured at times. Shout-out to my ER doctor dad and the athletic trainers at UC San Diego and Penn State for supporting me."
 
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.
 
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.