Joy Ellingson
Southern California’s Joy Ellingson trained in her early fencing career with Delmar Calvert at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, excelling in the Junior competitions and winning the Junior National title at 18. For college, she attended San Jose State University and trained under Michael D’Asaro alongside previous National title holders Gay D’Asaro, Vinnie Bradford and Stacey Johnson.
A four-time First Team All-American, Joy won the National Collegiate individual titles in 1979 and 1982. The 1982 victory came at the inaugural NCAA-sanctioned Women’s Collegiate Fencing Championships held at San Jose State.
READ MORE...For years a top-ranked fencer on the national squad, Joy won several national events in the years leading up to selecting the US Olympic team for 1984.
Caught up in a controversial situation, a tournament Joy won had the result challenged in court due to a possibly faulty scoring machine. The final round was ordered to be re-fenced and Joy finished out of the first place spot. That lower finish proved to be just enough difference in points to drop her out of a position on the Olympic team. Joy retired from competition soon after.
Articles
Fencing and Wine, 1982
Ever wondered who has the “fencing.com” URL? Yup, it’s the Silicon Valley original, The Fencing Center. Proximity and foresight; a powerful combination. The past two weeks of “Shelterinplace Con – 2020” have been all about San Jose’s The Fencing Center.
The Spartan Women, Part One
The last article I wrote, which featured Michael D’Asaro’s time in San Antonio and the Army, got me thinking about one of the reasons I decided to attend San Jose State to train with him. That reason was the awesome strength of his Women’s foil program.
My Forever Summer
You don’t forget your first team, or your first teammates. The fortuitous circumstances surrounding my introduction to fencing couldn’t be more memorable; a time filled with remarkable personalities.
Say Goodbye, Say Hello
I drove from my Bay Area home last week to attend the memorial service for much-loved fencing master Delmar Calvert.
The First NCAA Women’s Championship
Everything has a first time and 1982 was the year of the first Women’s Foil championship for the NCAA.
1983 D’Asaro Women’s Foil Final
The 1983 D’Asaro Women’s Foil was one of four national circuit events held during the season at different venues prior to the national championships in the early summer. Preliminary rounds were fought at San José State until the final 8 were decided
1980 Cabrillo Invitational
In 1980, Len Carnighan, then coach at Cabrillo Community College in Aptos, CA, hosted a tournament seeded with three of the top fencers in the area.
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