Three seniors have finished their careers as members of the UCSD fencing team. Michael Davis-Allen and Scott Kim from the men’s team and Rebecca Dowd from the women’s team represented the minority as seniors on teams that were very young this season.
Men’s Fencing
Davis-Allen played a key role on the team as a senior. He was the top epee for the Tritons and finished third in the Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California in competition with that weapon. He also was the epee team captain.
“”Michael was a team leader,”” said UCSD head coach Stuart Lee.
Lee asked Davis-Allen to be a captain for the entire team, but Davis-Allen declined because he felt that with his studies, he could not put in the amount of time necessary to be captain.
Men’s Fencing
Scott Kim did not get to play as much as a senior as he did as an underclassman. Kim started before this season, but lost his starting slot to some talented freshmen, including Jeremy Runyan. Kim competed in all three weapons, foil, sabre and epee. Lee emphasized that Kim did not lose his spot because of his struggles but because of the outstanding play of the young players on the team.
Rebecca Dowd started for the UCSD women’s fencing team and had a successful season. She competed as the second foil for the women’s team and finished 10th in the conference in foil.
“”Rebecca was definitely a contributor for our team,”” Lee said.
Both the men’s and women’s fencing teams were extremely young this year after losing many seniors from last year’s team. Of 18 starters from that team, only five returned this year. Still, the coach was excited about the young talent from this year’s team.
The men’s and women’s fencing teams will both miss the contributions and leadership of this year’s seniors. Despite the loss, however, with their young talent, both teams have a lot to look forward to next year.
