LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) has named two UC San Diego fencers as the conference's Fencers of the Week for Jan. 19. Nurzhan Abzhanov and Piper Randolph were selected after their performances over the weekend at the Dave Micahnik Penn Invitational.
 
Abzhanov was the top performer for the Triton men in Philadelphia, going 12-3. That included a win over NJIT's Paul Veltrup, who is the top-ranked fencer in the country by SPI for men's epee. The No. 15 ranked Triton men's team went 5-3 across the weekend, with two of those losses coming to top-10 teams.
 
Randolph had a perfect showing for the Triton women, going 11-0. She is the first Triton to go undefeated at an event in at least the last three seasons. The Triton women went 7-2 in Philadelphia, which included ranked wins over No. 8 Penn—the program's first—and No. 14 Temple.
 
Abzhanov is a freshman from Almaty, Kazakhstan. The epeeist is majoring in computer science at Sixth College. Randolph is a freshman from Solana Beach, California. The foilist in majoring in astrophysics at Sixth College.
 
UC San Diego now has three MPSF Fencers of the Week this season. Katherine Kim was previously honored on Nov. 25.
 
The Tritons will next be in action Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at the Northwestern Duals.
 
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 in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 39 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 NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.