The Tritons faced stiff competition in their opening dual meet on Jan. 15 at the Main Gym when they hosted some of the best collegiate fencing teams in the nation, including NYU, Columbia University, Stanford and St. Johns University.
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The UCSD men’s fencing team performed strongly against sterling competitors, but the Tritons were still thrashed by St. Johns, Columbia, Stanford and NYU, with scores of 21-6, 24-3, 19-8 and 18-9, respectively.
Against St. Johns, UCSD was outscored 6-3 in both the sabre and foil events, and the Tritons were skunked 9-0 in epee as St. Johns took the match, 21-6.
UCSD did not perform any better against Columbia. The Tritons lost 7-2 in the sabre, 9-0 in the foil, and 8-1 in epee, and Columbia won 24-3 overall.
In the match against NYU, UCSD was outscored 5-4 in the sabre event, 8-1 in the foil, and 5-4 in epee in the Tritons 18-9 loss.
Against Stanford, UCSD took five of the nine sabre bouts, but the Tritons only won once in the foil and twice in the epee. The Cardinal won overall by the score of 19-8.
“”We did our best and had decent results,”” said UCSD fencer Jeremy Runyan.
The women’s fencing team’s plans to dominate the competition on its home turf were also foiled when both the St. Johns and Columbia women’s teams dashed their hopes in two 26-1 victories against the overmatched Tritons.
Although the women’s squad did better in the duels against Stanford and NYU, UCSD still lost 17-10 and 19-8, respectively.
UCSD women’s fencing had a rough time with St. Johns, failing to register a bout victory in either the sabre or the foil, and the Tritons were then outscored in the epee 8-1 as St. Johns cruised to a 26-1 win.
UCSD fell 26-1 against Columbia, with the lone point coming in the foil.
However, the Tritons made a better showing against Stanford. UCSD won four bouts in the sabre and three each in the foil and epee in the Cardinal’s 17-10 victory.
In the match against NYU, the Tritons got four points in both the sabre and epee, but UCSD failed to win a single bout in the foil, which proved to be the deciding event in NYU’s 19-8 win.
The tough meet was exacerbated by the fact that this season’s Triton fencing teams lost several of last year’s starting fencers to graduation and academic problems, but several UCSD stars did emerge from the demanding opposition on Jan. 15.
“”[It is] definitely a rebuilding year,”” said Triton head coach Stuart Lee. “”Some individuals did well, and the team has a few fencers of national caliber.””
One of those individuals was Runyan, who had some of the best results of the day, and he eventually plans on using his five years of fencing experience to its fullest.
“”I would like to make the [National Collegiate Athletic Association] Championships,”” Runyan said.
Although the team did not fare particularly well in the all-day competition against four teams of experienced and respected fencers, UCSD does have good expectations for the rest of the season.
On Feb. 8, the team will trek north to Santa Barbara to face USC, UCLA, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara.
“”We expect to sweep that one,”” Lee said.
Despite the fact that the team is “”fighting an uphill battle,”” according to Lee, the Tritons still look to deliver strong performances during the rest of the year, and the team has many prospects for success.
