Following a season that saw UCSD fencing dominate the Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California, four Tritons will represent their school at the NCAA Championships in Houston, from March 17 to March 20.

Freshmen epeeist Chelsea Ambort, sabreur Jason Runyan, foilist Cameron Sprowles and junior sabreur Bret Martin have received bids to the big dance of collegiate fencing by virtue of their performances over the course of the season and their showing at the Western Division Championship held at Stanford on March 5. On top of that, Ambort owns the bragging rights to the title of top female epeeist in the Western Division, which includes UCSD, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Tech, Air Force Academy and Stanford.

Martin and Runyan entered the tournament ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in men’s sabre, respectively, based on their power rankings from the regular season. Sprowles entered ranked No. 2 in men’s foil and Ambort No. 3 in women’s epee.

Ambort’s quest for gold provided the most exciting drama of the entire tournament. After going an impressive 12-1 against her opponents, Ambort found herself in a tie for first place with Katherine Harvard from Cal Tech. A fence-off would decide the title.

“[Harvard] and I have had somewhat of a rivalry all season, ever since I knocked her out in the first individual tournament of the season,” Ambort said. “When I got up on the strip, I was very nervous, but when I turned around, I saw my entire team, and it was the most empowering feeling to have them behind me. I knew I couldn’t be nervous — I had to go out and do my best because my team was there.”

The two fencers were evenly matched, which was evident from the start as the two competitors scored simultaneously not once, but twice in a row. With the score tied at 2-2, Ambort took a brief advantage, scoring a touch to take a 3-2 lead. The lead was short-lived, however, as Harvard took the next point to even the score at 3-3. The tension mounted, as the next point would decide the title. The heat rose even higher with another simultaneous point, and the score remained knotted at 4-4. Then Ambort scored the decisive point, landing a touch on the hand of a lunging Harvard, to claim the title and punch her ticket to Nationals.

“My strategy was to let her come to me,” Ambort said. “I couldn’t believe [the last touch] was happening when it did. It was exactly what I was trying to do. The best thing about it was knowing that everything I had trained for all season fell into place at that moment.”

Martin and Runyan had somewhat disappointing tournaments, going 8-6 and 5-9, respectively. Martin finished fifth overall and Runyan finished 11th. However, thanks to their high power ratings, each will be making the trip to Houston — Martin as the third overall finisher from the division and Runyan with an at-large bid. Only two national at-large bids are given for each event.

“I’m really glad that the NCAA took into consideration the strength of season, so not everything was dependent on my performance in one tournament,” Runyan said. “I hope I perform better at Nationals than I did at Regionals.”

Sprowles suffered an injury in an early bout, affecting his performance throughout the day. He finished the day 6-7, finishing ninth overall and falling short of qualifying for Nationals. However, like Runyan, he was also awarded an at-large bid to Nationals.

Aside from the individual efforts, there were some notable team performances as well. Ambort and the women’s epee team went undefeated on the day, and junior Masha Merat, who finished fourth in the tournament, led the women’s foil team to a perfect 4-0 record as well.

Martin is the only veteran of Nationals; this will be his second trip in as many years.

“I hope to improve on my [19th-place] finish from last year,” he said. “I’m really excited about the number of people we’re sending this year. I was the only one that went last year, but this year we have three more, and since they’re all freshmen, that really bodes well for the future of the team.”

According to head coach Heidi Runyan, this is the first time in several years that UCSD has sent four fencers to Nationals. The Western Division is sending three men and two women per weapon. There will be 24 competitors from across the nation competing in each event.

“I’m very happy with how I’ve done and how the whole team has done all season,” Sprowles said. “We’ve done spectacularly as a team, and pretty well individually. I’m proud to be on a team with so many strong fencers.”