By Jake Blanc

Senior Staff Writer

FENCING — Participating in its first team meet in nearly a
month, the UCSD fencing team performed very well in what should prove to be the
most challenging competition of the year. After traveling to Atlanta
for an open individual performance meet at the North American Cup, the Tritons
went to Chicago last weekend for
the prestigious Northwestern Meet. Returning to the regular, team-focused style
of competition was very much a welcomed aspect for UCSD, who saw its men’s team
go 6-4 in dual matches while the women’s side posted a 7-5 mark.

In Chicago, the
Tritons faced off against powerhouses such as Notre Dame, Ohio
State, Northwestern and Temple
University, all of whom are rated
in the national top 10 in the United States Fencing Coaches Association poll.
According to assistant coach Josh Runyan, the opportunity to fence against such
premier schools was great for the team.

“We went against some of the strongest teams in the
country,” Runyan said. “The competition was made up of a large variety of
schools, from D-I programs who have international recruiting programs down to
D-III schools as well.”

One of the highlights from the weekend meet was the overall
performance of senior Chelsea Ambort, whose duals in women’s epee guaranteed
her a spot in the NCAA Regionals and put her in a strong position to make an
appearance at the National Championships in Columbus,
Ohio in March.

“I always feel like I could have done better but that’s only
because I am a competitive person and never like to lose,” Ambort said.
“However, some of my wins were against some of the best women in the nation and
I am really proud of that. The women’s epee team this year is balanced, and by
that I mean we each have certain different talents to bring to a meet that
helps us win overall, it makes us a really strong squad.”

Acting as a humble veteran team leader, Ambort chose mostly
to ignore her own personal accomplishments and focus on her team as a whole, as
it posted a 9-3 over the weekend. Ambort looked to the versatility and talents
of her teammates in explaining the team’s success in Chicago.
Senior Grace Bohn won a very impressive bout with Northwestern’s Kayley French,
an internationally ranked fencer who placed 14th at Nationals in 2007. Junior
Heather Stephenson won all three of her bouts against North
Carolina to ensure the UCSD women’s victory.

“I was also really proud of Grace Bohn who beat All-American
Justyna Konczalska from Wayne State
University,” Ambort said. “Grace
was a walk-on who learned how to fence less than four years ago when we were
freshmen, and now she can stand up against top fencers like Justyna; I think it
is an amazing achievement. She couldn’t stop smiling after her victory and
neither could we, it was awesome.”

On the men’s side, the epee team performed especially well,
meriting the appropriate praise from sophomore Sean Blum.

“I think that my epee squadmates all performed very
solidly,” Blum said. “We supported each other on the strip and we all earned
pretty even results. As a squad, I think this was the best performance I have
seen from us, considering the strength of the opposition.”

Next, the Tritons will travel to Fullerton,
Calif. to do battle with Cal State
Fullerton, Cal Tech University and UC Irvine, a repeat meet from when the four
teams squared off in November.