Over the weekend, UCSD hosted their annual Bladerunner Regional Open Circuit event, one of the premier fencing tournaments in Southern California. As a qualification path for Summer National Championships, this event is always well attended and is always strong with events drawing anywhere from 40 to 100 competitors.
On Saturday, Head Coach David Polakoski participated in the Senior Men’s Epee event. Starting out strong on the day, his 5-1 record out of pools earned a 5th place seed and a bye into the round of 64. Once more, David started the bout strong with a 4-touch lead, but his opponent hung in and took the match to the third period, ultimately seizing the victory. David placed 34th of 107.
Also on Saturday was the Junior Women’s Epee event, in which Allison and Michelle Chan participated. The event was Michelle’s first ROC, and she competed enthusiastically, performing well, but ultimately drawing a B-ranked fencer in the first round of the Direct Eliminations, and was knocked out. Allison came prepared to fence, starting the day with an impressive 5-1 record out of pools, beating the #1-ranked fencer in the tournament to do so; her sole loss was by a single touch. She then proceeded to tear through the tableau in the DE’s, initially overcoming a 4-touch deficit to win her first match, and taking a commanding 4-point lead in the second one to finish it in the first period. She made it all the way to the round of 8 before she was stopped, but her efforts on the day earned her a C16. Congratulations Allison!
On Sunday, Roark Harris and Jonathan Chan competed in the Junior Men’s Epee event. These fencers, too, were competing in a ROC for the first time, and they came loaded for bear. Roark managed to earn 3 wins in his pool, including one victory against the #3 ranked fencer in the tournament (ranked 61 on the Junior National Points List). Similarly, Jonathan earned 2 wins in pools, including one against the #4 ranked fencer in the tournament (ranked 84 in the Junior National Points List). Both fencers earned a bye out of the first round of DE’s, but couldn’t hang on long enough to make it past the round of 64. Excellent work to both of them!
Finally, Allison competed in her second event on the weekend in the Senior Women’s Epee event on Sunday. Though she fenced well, she could not replicate her success from the day before. She earned a respectable 3-3 record in pools, including a victory against one of UCSD’s starting fencers. She continued to perform strongly in her elimination bout, but lost by a close margin at 13-15. Fun fact, she managed to defeat 3 starters from the UCSD squad over the weekend. Impressive work!
The coaches at EFA are proud of all our fencers who competed. They gave it their all and they represented the club outstandingly. We are thrilled Allison earned her new rating, and we look forward to practicing with everyone after their experience at such a large competition.
Full results can be seen at ucsdbladerunner.com
