Coaches

Steve Mormando

Head Coach

Steve Mormando joined the New York University fencing program as an assistant men’s coach prior to the 1981-82 season. He became head coach of the women’s team in 1982-83 and then the men’s team in 1987-88.

During his tenure at NYU, Mormando has helped produce six NCAA champions, 32 All-Americans, six Academic All-Americans, 46 University Athletic Association champions, six Intercollegiate Fencing Association champions and 15 NCAA Regional champions. In addition, Mormando and his assistants have been named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year 11 times.

Last season, Mormando’s combined men’s and women’s team posted its 14th consecutive top-20 finish, taking 19th place nationally at the NCAA Fencing Championships. Three Violet freshmen (Sam Roukas, Jared Hammond, Zoe Baumgardner) qualified for the NCAA’s, a competition which features fencers from all three NCAA divisions

In ’06-07, Mormando led the men’s team to a 9-12 match record, notching wins over prestigious programs such as #8-ranked Princeton University, the University of North Carolina, Yale University, Wayne State University, and Boston College. The women’s team’s 8-15 record included victories over Rutgers University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston College, and Sacred Heart University.

Mormando also presides over a program with terrific academic accomplishment, evidenced by a total of 21 of his fencers earning UAA Winter Sport All-Academic honors last year.

In 2005-06, Mormando bid farewell to one of his top fencers, Gabriel Sinkin, who earned Second Team All-America honors at the NCAA Championships with a seventh-place finish in foil. A three-time NCAA All-American during his career, Sinkin also earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for the second time in ’05-06.

Mormando, who qualified as the 1992 United States Olympic Team's top sabre fencer, was also elected co-captain of the U.S. Fencing contingent. The Barcelona games marked his third consecutive Olympic selection. He earned the trip to Barcelona largely as a result of the gold medal he won in the individual sabre competition at the 1991 Pan American Games. In addition to his Pan American gold, Mormando captured the 1987 U.S. National Sabre Championship and has earned 17 U.S. Olympic Festival Championship medals.

In 2005, Mormando won the bronze medal at the Veterans Over-50 World Championships in Tampa, Florida. He won the gold medal at the 1998 Nike World Masters' Games in Portland, Oregon, defeating 1980 Olympic gold medalist Nikolai Alekhine of Belarus 15-12 to win the championship.

Mormando’s competitive career includes 13 United States National Team gold medals to go along with his one gold and four silver medals from the Pan American Games. He made the Olympic Team finals in 1984, finishing sixth, and in 1988, finishing seventh. He finished 12th in the individual sabre in 1984 and 16th in 1988. Over the course of U.S. national competitions, Mormando has accumulated a total of 34 medals, including the silver he won in the team competition at the 2003 U.S. Nationals.

A 1980 graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in philosophy, Mormando earned his master's degree in sports and fitness management from NYU's School of Education in 1983. He has been inducted into the Toms River High School, Rutgers University, and New Jersey Shore Halls of Fame.

A native of Toms River, NJ, Mormando currently resides in Dover, NJ.

Steve Mormondo Record
Year
UAA Men
UAA Women
NCAA
Championship
1987-88
Champions
Second Place
Ninth Place (Men Only)
1988-89
Second Place
Champions
Sixth Place (Men Only)
1989-90
Champions
Champions
11th Place (Tie)
1990-91
Champions
Champions
17th Place
1991-92
Champions
Champions
Eighth Place
1992-93
Champions
Second Place
21st Place
1993-94
Champions
Second Place
Seventh Place
1994-95
Champions
Third Place
Eighth Place
1995-96
Champions
Champions
Ninth Place
1996-97
Champions
Champions
14th Place
1997-98
Champions
Champions
Ninth Place
1998-99
Champions
Champions
11th Place
1999-00
Champions
Champions
15th Place
2000-01
Champions
Second Place
15th Place (Tie)
2001-02
Champions
Second Place
11th Place
2002-03
Champions
Champions
12th Place
2003-04
20th Place
2004-05
Ninth Place
2005-06
14th Place
2006-07
19th Place

Note: The UAA Championships were discontinued after 2003.

Edward Elterman

Assistant

Top foil coach and 1969 Junior Champion of the U.S.S.R., Ed Elterman has been a member of the Violets’ men’s & women’s fencing coaching staffs since the 1990-91 season. In recognition of his expertise, Ed has been a member of eight NYU coaching staffs that have earned University Athletic Association Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

Ed has been a big part of the success of the NYU program. Last season, he assisted as the combined men’s and women’s team posted its 14th consecutive top-20 finish, taking 19th place nationally at the NCAA Fencing Championships. Three Violet freshmen (Sam Roukas, Jared Hammond, Zoe Baumgardner) qualified for the NCAA’s, a competition which features fencers from all three NCAA divisions

In 2005-06, Ed helped lead NYU’s men’s and women’s teams to a combined 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. That followed a ninth-place performance in 2005, the highest finish for the Violets since the 1997-98 squads also placed ninth.

Overall, Ed has been part of 13 NYU men’s UAA Championship teams and eight women’s champions. The last UAA Championship was held during the 2002-03 season. In addition, 2006 graduate Gabriel Sinkin earned NCAA All-America honors three times under Ed’s tutelage.

A 1976 graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Minsk, Belarus, Ed earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He also graduated from Minsk’s School of Coaching in 1978.

Since moving to the United States in 1989, Ed has coached at the New York Fencer’s Club, where he has built a strong foil program. Many of his students are nationally ranked.

Ed is a native of Minsk and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Pam Kray Gallivan

Assistant

Pam Kray Gallivan has completed 12 seasons as an assistant coach of the New York University men’s & women’s fencing teams.

Pam has been a major part of the success of the NYU program. Last season, she assisted as the combined men’s and women’s team posted its 14th consecutive top-20 finish, taking 19th place nationally at the NCAA Fencing Championships. Three Violet freshmen (Sam Roukas, Jared Hammond, Zoe Baumgardner) qualified for the NCAA’s, a competition that features fencers from all three NCAA divisions

In 2005-06, Pam helped lead NYU’s men’s and women’s teams to a combined 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. That followed a ninth-place performance in 2005, the highest overall finish for the Violets since the 1997-98 squads also placed ninth.

In recognition of her expertise, Pam has been a member of six NYU coaching staffs that have earned University Athletic Association Coaching Staff of the Year honors. The men's team has won the UAA Championship eight times during her tenure, while the women's team has captured the championship six times. The last UAA Championship was held during the 2002-03 season.

Prior to joining the coaching staff, Pam introduced people of all ages to the sport as part of NYU’s recreational and community fencing programs.

A native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, Pam attended the University of Wisconsin and earned both a bachelor of science degree (1973) and a master of fine arts degree (1980).

On the strip, Pam was a sabre finalist at the United States Fencing National Championships in 1991, as well as a sabre bronze medalist at the Nike World Master’s Games in Portland, Oregon, in 1998.

The founder of Nil Hubris LLC, a graphic arts studio in Manhattan, Pam has resided in New York City for over 30 years.

Kornel Udvarhelyi

Assistant

World-class epee coach Kornel Udvarhelyi has served as an assistant fencing coach at New York University for five seasons.

Udvarhelyi joined head coach Steve Mormando’s staff in 2001-02, but missed the 2004-05 season before returning for the last two seasons.

In 2006-07, Udvarhelyi assisted as the combined men’s and women’s team posted its 14th consecutive top-20 finish, taking 19th place nationally at the NCAA Fencing Championships. Three Violet freshmen (Sam Roukas, Jared Hammond, Zoe Baumgardner) qualified for the NCAA’s, a competition that features fencers from all three NCAA divisions

In 2005-06, Kornel returned to the staff and helped lead NYU’s men’s and women’s teams to a combined 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Kornel, who was named U.S. National Epee Coach in 2003, joined the NYU staff after coming to the United States from his native Hungary. While at NYU, the Violets’ men’s team won two University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships (2002 and 2003), while the women’s team won the title in 2003 (the last season the UAA Championship was held).

Kornel earned a college degree in 1995 as an expert fencing coach at the College of Physical Education in Budapest, Hungary. While there, he pioneered a project that analyzed the biomechanics of fencing actions using multimedia technology.

Throughout the 1990's, Kornel worked with Hungarian fencers in the epee and foil at all levels from grassroots training programs to preparing fencers for the World Cup. In March 1998 he was named the Hungarian Junior National Men's Epee coach, a position he held until coming to the United States in 2001.

Since his arrival in New York, Kornel, who currently resides in Manhattan, has coached at the New York Fencers’ Club, where he has built a high-level epee program.

Lauren Willock

Assistant

Lauren Willock is in her first year as an assistant coach for New York University men’s and women’s fencing teams. She will assist head coach Steve Mormando in all facets of the program.

A 2007 NYU graduate with a degree in history, Willock was a four-year member of the Violets’ women’s fencing team. Serving as a co-captain during her senior campaign, Willock posted a 43-19 epee mark..

During a stellar career in which she compiled a 222-89 record, Willock earned University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the Week honors 16 times. She was the NCAA Northeast Regional Epee Champion during the 2004-05 campaign and earned Second-Team All-America honors by finishing eighth in epee at the 2005 NCAA National Championships. That season, she also recorded a career-high 89 victories.

The Intercollegiate Fencing Association Epee Champion as a freshman, Willock went on to compete as a member of the 2005 U.S. Senior World Championship Team and the 2007 U.S. World University Games Team.

A three-time UAA Winter Sport All-Academic honoree, Willock also earned the NYU Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award last spring.

“Having Lauren with us brings a fresh and exciting feel to our program,” Mormando said. “She has a keen sense of the sport and has also proven herself to be a great leader.”

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Willock resides in Manhattan.