“I really enjoy how abnormal a sport it is.”
Over the previous three years, the Pacific Ridge High School mascot, El Fuego the Firebird, wasn’t likely to engage in any swordplay.Inside that costume was Piper Randolph, a first-team All-American junior fencer who excelled in the Pan-American Cadet Championships.
UC San Diego fencer Piper Randolph dressed as Fuego the Firebird while attending Pacific Ridge High School. “It gets a little toasty in there, but I actually really loved it,” said Randolph, who was recruited by faculty members for the position. “I enjoyed being able to kind of goof off in that costume with nobody really knowing who it is. I got to pull out some cartwheels and high-five the kids. I actually had a blast with that.” Now a freshman at UC San Diego, Piper Randolph is one of the region’s top fencers. Randolph just returned from the National Collegiate Fencing Championships, where she finished 22nd. Randolph says she enjoys being a bird of a different feather, whether it’s in a mascot costume or fencing kit. “I really enjoy how abnormal a sport it is,” Randolph said. “I feel like fencing is such a beautiful sport that’s both physically and mentally taxing. You can’t have one without the other in fencing. You need to be physically fit, but then everybody at some point is struggling with their mental game and how to improve upon that. “That’s quite a challenge for me and keeps me on my toes … however far I make it in my fencing career.” Randolph first became intrigued by fencing after watching a sword scene in the 1998 remake of “The Parent Trap” movie starring Lindsay Lohan. Some family research into the sport followed. Randolph soon joined a fencing club and then eventually dropped soccer in favor of her newfound interest. “I don’t necessarily know if I picked it up quickly or slowly, but it was quite exciting for me to find something new and entertaining,” Randolph said. “It was fun as a kiddo and still now for me to have the idea that I have a sword in my hand.”Randolph was a two-time second-team youth All-American, then spent three years as a first-teamer. She traveled to Bogota, Colombia, where she finished ninth at the Pan American Cadet Championships. When it came to picking a college, the Solana Beach resident didn’t have to look far. UCSD offered both fencing and astrophysics, her major. Well aware of the local fencer’s youth accomplishments, Tritons coach Juan Ignacio Calderon contacted Randolph on the first possible day of recruiting. The introductory conversation went so well that, for the first time ever, the coach made an immediate offer to join the team.“I’ve always been impressed by her energy and especially her really positive attitude,” Calderon said. “And she’s just kept getting better in competition.” In coming to UCSD, Randolph extended a local pipeline to the school following the recent graduation of Canyon Crest Academy alum Kyra Wu, a collegiate standout now at Oxford. “Kyra was my teammate before even going to UCSD, and she’s been like an older sister to me,” Randolph said. “She has been always there for any questions that I ever needed.” Randolph comes from an athletic family. Her father, Robert, was a soccer goalkeeper at Stanford. Her older sister, Sydney, and younger sister, Kelly, both have volleyball experience. Randolph’s cousin, Maverick McNealy, plays on the PGA Tour. Randolph also competed for Pacific Ridge’s surf team, spending her final three seasons as team captain. Randolph went 28-8 during her first regular season of college fencing. After she was originally eased into competition as a substitute, Randolph established herself as the second-best female fencer on the team. Then she placed third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation meet and sixth in the strong West Regionals, advancing to the national championships dubbed “March Stabness.”Randolph went 6-17 in the round-robin competition. One of her wins came over sophomore teammate Katherine Kim, who would earn honorable mention All-American honors. “It was an incredible opportunity for me to grow and to learn and to have some fun with some of the nation’s best fencers,” Randolph said. “The biggest thing that I wanted to come into this competition with was the mindset of having fun. That’s when I perform my best.” The Tritons matched their second-best showing at the nationals, with three of their four fencers earning All-America honors. Along with Kim, senior Sunny Sharma and freshman Nurzhan Abzhanov earned such recognition on the men’s side. “It’s kind of ironic that as such a people person I chose an individual sport,” Randolph said. ”So the most exciting portion of collegiate fencing for me has been the team aspect of it. I am really loving all of the involvement that we have in the team and the almost sort of family that we have.”Excess load on transmission line may have caused SDG&E power outage to 103,000 customersFourth Padres suitor becomes publicAir traffic control staffing back to normal at San Diego airport; security delays persistShortage of air traffic controllers triggers heavy delays at San Diego airport Firefighters should take 1 or 2 minutes to prepare for a call. San Diego’s take 4, audit finds. Here’s what’s to blame. Firefighters should take 1 or 2 minutes to prepare for a call. San Diego’s take 4, audit finds. Here’s what’s to blame.
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