Feb. 12, 2006
Notre Dame’s defending NCAA champion fencing program added just one signee in the early period but she is one of the nation’s top young fencers. Kelly Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) – a prospective Olympian for the 2008 Games in Beijing – currently is listed first in the U.S. Fencing Association women’s epee rankings (both overall and in the under-20 age group) while checking in at 56th in the elite world rankings (12th among u-20s), despite being just 17 years old.
Hurley’s career highlights include: becoming the youngest fencer (16) ever to win the U.S. women’s epee national championship (in ’04); winning the 2005 Under-17 world championship; winning the U.S. Junior National (u-20) title for the first time as a 14-year-old in 2002 (and again in ’05); and competing with the U.S. National Team at the 2004 and 2005 World Championships and the 2004 Pan Am Games (where she helped the U.S. women’s epeeists claim the silver medal).
Hurley attends Earl Warren High School and is coached by her mother, Tracy Hurley, and Paul Pesthy at the family’s Team Hurley fencing club. The 5-foor-9 rising start ended 2002 listed No. 34 in the U.S. rankings before surging to the No. 3 spot in 2003 and ascending to the top ranking in 2005, ranking above many elite fencers who are a decade older than her.
“I am happy to have signed another talented fencer to the Notre Dame program and I hope that she will follow in the successful tradition of all other great student-athletes who have signed with Notre Dame,” says fourth-year Notre Dame head coach Janusz Bednarski, who guided the Irish to NCAA combined team titles in 2003 and ’05.
Kelley Hurley in 2004 became the youngest fencer (16) ever to win the U.S. women’s epee national title.
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“Kelley’s USA and world champion titles give us hope that she can be a valuable asset for our team, in both her athletic and academic pursuits. She is a fighter who is eager to take on many challenges in all aspects of her life. We are excited to welcome Kelley to Notre Dame and the fencing program.”
Hurley follows current freshman foilist Mark Kubik as the second San Antonio fencer to sign with the Irish during the past two years.
“I chose to attend Notre Dame because of their number-one-ranked fencing program,” says Hurley, whose younger sister Courtney likewise is one of the world’s top young epee fencers. “I am also interested in their great liberal arts education, which I know will prepare me for the future.”
Kelley Hurley made a big splash in 2005, highlighted by winning the world under-17 national title.
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Additional Kelley Hurley Bio. Notes – Her recent events include placing 15th at both the Senior World Cup in Prague and the Junior World Cup in Osnabruck while also fencing at the Senior World Cup in Saint Maur, France … her recent North American Cup events include placing 11th at the Houston event (in the overall women’s epee) and 3rd in both Pittsburgh (overall) and Albuquerque (for u-20), with her sister Courtney winning the Pittsburgh and Albuquerque events … her top 2005 events included winning the cadet/Under-17 world title in Linz, Austria; winning the junior/U-20 national championship (in Sacramento) and the U-17 title (none of her opponents had double-digit points in the 15-touch bouts) while also taking 3rd at senior nationals; representing the U.S. at the Senior World Championships in Germany; and winning a Junior World Cup in Guadeloupe, France … her busy 2004 included: winning all three U.S. titles (overall, U-20 and U-17); helping the U.S. win the silver medal at the Pan Am Games in the Dominican Republic; fencing with the U.S. at the Senior World Championships (in Cuba); posting top-16 finishes at Senior World Cups in London and Saint-Maur, France; and posting top Junior World Cup finishes in Bratislava (5th) and Pont de Sor, Poland (9th) … she was a member of the 2003 Senior World Championship team (at the age of 14), also winning the U-17 national title that year (in Austin, Texas) and fencing on the silver-medal team at the ’03 Pan Am Games … she earlier won the 2002 junior national title (in Greenville, S.C.) and was the youth-14 national champ, after winning the youth-12 national epee and foil titles in ’01 … has fenced with eight different U.S. national teams (senior teams in ’03 and ’05, plus cadet and junior teams from ’03-’05) … her current No. 12 ranking among the world’s under-20 women’s epeeists has her listed behind only the following fencers: Hungary’s Katalin Izso, Estonia’s Valentine Gribova, France’s Isabelle Pegliasco, Poland’s Magdalena Piekarska, Israel’s Noam Mills, Korea’s Eun Sook Choi, Russia’s Nadejda Shutova and Elena Shasharina, the USA’s Kery Byerts, Italy’s Sara Carpegna and the Ukraine’s Yana Shemyakina.