SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Four UC San Diego fencers will compete this week at the National Collegiate Fencing Championships. The women's competition is this Thursday and Friday, followed by the men's competition on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Katherine Kim and Piper Randolph, both foilists, will represent the Tritons in the women's competition. The men's event will feature two Triton epeeists in Nurzhan Abzhanov and Sunny Sharma.
 
Kim and Sharma are repeat selections to the national championships. In 2025, Kim finished seventh to earn Second Team All-American honors. Sharma was 21st. Abzhanov and Randolph are both freshmen.
 
THE BASICS
Notre Dame is the host of this year's event. Action will take place at the Irish's Joyce Center. The Tritons will begin fencing at 8:00 a.m. PT on Thursday and 6:00 a.m. PT Friday-Sunday.
 
There are 24 participants in each weapon. Fencers will compete against each other in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. The top four in each weapon will then fence in single-elimination semifinal and final 15-touch bouts to crown the national champions.
 
The round-robin bouts will be streamed live HERE for free. The semifinals and finals will be available live on ESPN+ (Women | Men).
 
THE UC SAN DIEGO SCHEDULE (All times Eastern)
Thursday, March 19
11:00 a.m. – Women's Foil Rounds 1-3
 
Friday, March 20
9:00 a.m. – Women's Foil Rounds 4-5
1:30 p.m. – Women's Semifinals and Championships Bouts
 
Saturday, March 21
9:00 a.m. – Men's Epee Rounds 1-3
 
Sunday, March 22
9:00 a.m. – Men's Epee Rounds 4-5
1:30 p.m. – Men's Semifinals and Championships Bouts
 
THE TRITONS
Abzhanov is a freshman from Almaty, Kazakhstan, majoring in computer science at Sixth College. He went 25-15 in the regular season and won the MPSF Men's Epee Championship. Abzhanov was second at regionals behind Sharma.
 
Kim is a sophomore from Tustin, California, majoring in social psychology at Sixth College. She went 34-10 in the regular season and won the MPSF Women's Foil Championship. Kim was third at regionals. Her seventh-place result at nationals last season is the fourth-best finish all-time by a Triton.
 
Randolph is a freshman from Solana Beach, California, majoring in astrophysics at Sixth College. She went 28-8 in the regular season. Randolph was third at the MPSF Championship and sixth at regionals.
 
Sharma is a senior from San Jose, California, majoring in business psychology at Roosevelt College. He went 32-21 in the regular season and won the NCAA West Regional Men's Epee Championship to earn the Tritons' only automatic bid to nationals. Sharma was third at the MPSF Championship.
 
UC SAN DIEGO AT THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Tritons have qualified at least one fencer to the National Championships every year since 2001. Juan Ignacio Calderon is in his eighth season as head coach and has seen four or more qualifiers each season he has been at the helm.
 
UC San Diego sent someone to nationals for the first time in 1972. This is the 38th year that the Tritons will be represented. Their first All-American was in 1982, with the program earning a total of 29 All-American awards since.
 
Third is the Tritons' best-ever individual finish, which has been accomplished twice. Leanne Singleton-Comfort did so in 2016 in women's saber, followed by Shawn Kim in 2022 in men's saber.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Tritons had a strong performance at the NCAA West Regional and MPSF Championships March 7-8. UC San Diego had 11 fencers earn All-Region honors and 12 earn All-MPSF honors.
 
In addition to Sharma's regional title and the MPSF titles by Abzhanov and Kim, Zara Fearns won the MPSF Women's Saber Championship and Jacob Levy won the MPSF Men's Foil Championship. Fearns is the first fencer to ever win three individual MPSF titles, while Levy captured his second-straight crown.
 
The Triton women's team defeated Air Force 30-15 in the team final to repeat as MPSF Women's Team Champions. Randolph had the winning touch in that contest.
 
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
 
TRITON FENCING TALK
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast, Tritoncast. New episodes of Tritoncast are available on the most popular podcasting apps and on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on X @Tritoncast.
 
GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO FENCING
The UC San Diego Fencing Team can be found on Facebook, Instagram and X. The team's handle is @ucsdfencing.
 
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

GEAR
For the latest Triton fencing apparel and accessories, click here.
 
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.

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 their 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.
 
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.