The UCSD fencing squad traveled to Fullerton, Calif., on Feb. 13 to take on two conference opponents, Cal Tech and Cal State Fullerton. The Tritons gave a strong performance, with the men going 2-0 and the women 1-1, as the season moves into the home stretch, including the Junior Olympics, Western Divisional Championships and NCAA Championships.
In a bout last November between these three teams, the Triton men and women defeated both their Cal Tech and Cal State Fullerton counterparts. This time, both the men’s and women’s squads picked up victories against Cal Tech, brushing the Beavers aside, 21-6 and 22-5, respectively.
The match pitting the Tritons against the Titans was more hard-fought as the men — who won 14-13 in November — prevailed once again, 15-12. The women lost a nail-biter, 13-14, to a strong Cal State Fullerton team. With the loss to the Titans, the Triton women have now suffered their first conference loss, tying them for first place with the Titan women at 7-1. Overall, the UCSD women are 14-7.
Freshman epeeist Chelsea Ambort, who went 5-1 on the day, led the Triton women. Senior Jennifer Ngolab and junior Esther Sosis both gathered four wins in sabre competition.
The women’s team was led by its foil squad, which went 15-3 on the day, taking the 9-0 win by default against Cal Tech (which didn’t have a foil team) and defeating Cal State Fullerton, 6-3. The sabre team went 11-7 and the epee team an even .500 at 9-9.
Junior sabre Bret Martin led the Triton men with an undefeated record over the course of the day and spearheaded the men’s sabre squad, which went 14-4. Martin’s performance came despite a minor Achilles tendon injury he suffered during warm-ups, which threatened to sideline him when it gave out during his first bout of the day against Fullerton with the score tied at 4-4.
“I have suffered this injury before, but it never felt this serious,” Martin said. “But I got it taped up by the trainer, who did a great job, and adrenaline kicked in, so I almost didn’t notice it at all after that.”
Martin went on to win that bout, 5-4, and the rest of his duals for the day. His sabre teammate, freshman Jason Runyan, submitted a 5-1 record, as did freshman foil Cameron Sprowles. The foil team went 11-7 on the day, including a 9-0 drubbing of Cal Tech, matching its female counterpart. The epee team also finished 11-7. The men’s team remains undefeated (8-0) in conference matches and is 18-2 overall.
“We have high hopes for a number of our fencers to make it to Nationals,” Triton head coach Heidi Runyan said. “We need to work on consistency, and we are still adjusting to losing players to injury and leaving to travel abroad.”
Spots at the NCAA Nationals are determined by consideration of the results from the Regional tournament (weighted 60 percent) as well as results from the season (weighted 40 percent).
“The team we have right now is very strong, and all the individuals we have are very talented,” Martin said. “If we all fence to our potential, and beat the people who we are able to beat, I don’t see any reason why we can’t win as a team at Regionals. I’m very excited about that. We’re all really proud of the way the team has performed this season. A bunch of people have come through for us at a lot of different times and helped us to get to where we are.”
The team’s next meet will be on Feb. 26 at Irvine, Calif., against UC Irvine, UCLA, USC and UC Santa Barbara.
