LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) unveiled the conference's 2026 Fencing Annual Awards on Monday, with four honorees coming from UC San Diego.
 
Katherine Kim is the Women's Fencer of the Year for the second-straight season. Newcomer of the Year awards went to Nurzhan Abzhanov and Piper Randolph. Juan Ignacio Calderon is the Head Coach of the Year.
 
Kim is a sophomore from Tustin, California, majoring in social psychology at Sixth College. She won the women's foil event at the MPSF Championships and was named First Team All-MPSF. Kim then went on to finish 11th at the NCAA Championships, resulting in Honorable Mention All-America honors. The foilist is only the second Triton female to be an All-American in multiple seasons and is the first fencer in MPSF history to win multiple Women's Fencer of the Year awards.
 
Abzhanov is a freshman from Almaty, Kazakhstan, majoring in computer science at Sixth College. He won the men's epee event at the MPSF Championships and was named First Team All-MPSF. Abzhanov qualified for the NCAA Championships, finishing 12th to be named an Honorable Mention All-American. The epeeist is the third-straight Triton to win Men's Newcomer of the Year.
 
Randolph is a freshman from Solana Beach, California, majoring in astrophysics at Sixth College. She was third in the women's foil event at the MPSF Championships, resulting in Second Team All-MPSF Honors. Randolph also qualified for the NCAA Championships, where she was 22nd. The foilist is the second-straight Triton and third all-time to win Women's Newcomer of the Year.
 
Calderon is in his eighth year at the helm of the UC San Diego fencing program. This is his second Head Coach of the Year award after first winning the honor in 2024. Calderon saw the women's team defend their MPSF title this year to go along with four individual conference championships. He also had four fencers qualify for the NCAA Championships.
 
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.