COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The top members of the UC San Diego fencing teams traveled to Colorado Springs to take part in the 2011 NCAA West Regional Championships, which were held at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Saturday. The Tritons had a strong showing in the tournament, with a hand full of individuals capturing second place finishes against strong regional opponents.

UCSD’s best results came in men’s sabre and women’s foil. Freshman Nick Bartuzik finished in second place in sabre, edging out Stanford’s Max Murphy and fellow Triton Jonathan Ott, who all tied in total number of victories.

Junior foil fencer Julia Wu had UCSD’s other second place result, finishing just ahead of teammate Rose Forcier in third place. Also taking third was freshman Munira Gesner in women’s sabre.

In perhaps the strongest event of the day, freshman Brennan Louie took third place with an 8-2 record in men’s foil. Michael Fong, last year's foil champion, fought off flu-like symptoms and finished in fifth place. Men’s epee also had a strong field, with James Galamba recording the best result for the Tritons with a fifth place finish.

With Bartuzik and Wu finishing in second place in their respective weapons, the pair will likely earn a trip to the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 24-27 at Ohio State. Two At-Large qualifiers will be selected on March 15, but none of the remaining Tritons are likely to earn a one of the spots.