SPORTS NOTEBOOK : Fencing Coach Builds Winning Tradition With 83% Victory Rate

Above the clashing of metal blades, an authoritative woman in horn-rimmed glasses and startling short hair shouted the commands in a gym at Cal State Long Beach: “On Guard” . . . “Advance” . . . “Lunge” . . . “Thrust” . . . “Retreat.”

In 27 years of teaching these fencing classes, Jo Redmon has developed many fencers for her varsity men’s and women’s teams, consistently among the strongest in the West.

Several members from this year’s 21-2 men’s team will compete in the NCAA championships Wednesday to March 25 at Penn State.

“I’ve been pretty successful,” Redmon said before a class on a recent morning, “but I attribute it to finding good kids.”

There are no fencing scholarships anymore at Long Beach, and no money in the athletic budget for fencing. But Redmon’s teams, which have won more than 83% of their matches, always seem to have a commitment to the sport that is almost equal to hers.

The night before the recent NCAA Western Regionals, the 49er fencers were still setting up the Long Beach gym at 2 a.m.

“We do everything ourselves,” Redmon said. “We don’t get support, I don’t even ask. We are always looking for things to make money and keep us afloat. But we do have the strongest program in Southern California. We have a gym so we’re not crowded off in some itty-bitty room.”

The fencers sell programs at basketball and football games to pay for road matches and also buy new blades when the old ones break.

“There are some givers in the fencing world who help and help, but for the most part they don’t,” Redmon said. “We have lawyers, doctors and so many other professional people involved in fencing, yet they don’t help monetarily.

“When they were going to drop football here (in 1986), everybody was up in arms, even people who didn’t care for football. If they dropped fencing, you wouldn’t hear a peep from anybody, except my kids.”

She loves her students and often is like a mother hen around them.

“(They) are truly student-athletes,” she said. “They come here to go to school. That’s their first priority, then they got involved in fencing for the love of the game. Some of them come here as fencers--two of the kids on my foil team I’ve been training since they were 11 or 12.”

Freshman Brad Eddy of Lakewood sparked Redmon’s interest when he was 11 and stopped by a fencing exhibit at the university and brandished a sword for the first time.

“Brad liked that,” Redmon recalled. “He wanted to know if he could have lessons. He stayed with it. The last two years he has been on the under-16 Junior Olympic team that competed in England. I’m very proud of him.”

Eddy, along with Joel Robinson and Dely Diaz, is a member of the 49er foil (light, flexible blade) team that will go to the NCAA tournament.

Robinson also will fence in the foil individual competition. Jerry Yang will compete in the epee (dueling sword) individual and Mike Davidson in the saber individual, in which fencers run at each other and start slashing with heavier blades.

It has been another great season for Redmon and her fencers. The 49er men were 14-0 in the Southern California Conference and also had road victories over Wisconsin and Northwestern. Their only losses were to Notre Dame and Illinois. The women were 10-3.

Redmon, who was a national class fencer in the 1960s, often wonders why she never cuts down on the time she devotes to her sport. But only for a moment.

“I’ve seen kids grow so much,” she said. “These kids aren’t football players or basketball players. They wouldn’t have a chance at any other intercollegiate competition.

“I’ve got a kid out for saber. He’ll never fence on the team but he’s there every night. He would never make any other type of sport, but he’s gaining so much experience, and this is part of the educational process.”

From a tomboy in New Mexico, with a baseball glove on her bicycle handlebars, Redmon grew to be a woman who enjoys classical music and traveling. She is usually seen at meets wearing tweed coats with an artificial flower in the throat of her collar.

She almost insists that her fencers acquire similar cultural tastes.

“When we travel I make them wear black pants, a white shirt and a nice coat and tie,” Redmon said. “I take them to museums. I want to make this an educational experience.”

Her fencers are grateful.

“She’s pushy,” said Eddy. “But she’s a nice person. She’s always working with you, making sure you have a positive attitude.”

At the recent NCAA West Regionals, Redmon sprinted all over the gym, checking with officials, making sure the electrical equipment worked and bestowing hugs upon her fencers, who were anonymous behind dark steel-mesh helmets. Her energy stood out as much as the unique short-haired look she has had almost forever.

“When I was a little kid I had curly hair and my mother was so rough with me when she washed it, I would scream,” the coach explained the other day. “My dad took me to a barbershop when I was 3, and I loved it.”

Bell Gardens Soccer Team Wins CIF Championship

Football is still king at Bell Gardens High School, but the soccer team is wearing a crown this year.

The Lancers (23-3) recently won the CIF Southern Section II-A title by defeating El Dorado, 3-2. They swept through five playoff games after finishing in second place in the Whitmont League, one-half game behind California High of Whittier.

“We’ve brought a lot of positive recognition to the school and the community,” Coach Orlando Brenez said.

Brenez is 197-39-35 in 12 seasons at Bell Gardens, where he also won a CIF title in 1984.

Juniors Gary and Eric Hurtarte, who are brothers, had great seasons.

Eric, a forward who scored 29 goals, was the most valuable II-A offensive player. He scored eight goals in the playoffs, including two in the title game.

Gary, a midfielder who was the Whitmont League’s most valuable player, scored 19 goals and led the team with 15 assists.

The Lancers had a solid group of seniors, including Javier Maciel, Philip Aguirre, Elpido Toscano and Luis Cruz.

Junior goalie Lupes Gallegos had 14 shutouts.

Brenez said that unlike many high school soccer teams, he doesn’t get many football players. At Bell Gardens, football players tend to participate in wrestling or basketball as a second sport.

But Bell Gardens football Coach Dave Newell is indebted to Brenez and the soccer team. “That’s where we get our kickers,” Newell said.

49ers Coach Gives Awards, Names Next-Year Captains

Sophomore guard Lucious Harris, who averaged 20 points a game, was named Cal State Long Beach’s outstanding player at the basketball team’s banquet Monday night at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel.

Senior Troy Joseph was named the best defender, junior Bobby Sears the best playmaker and free-throw shooter, and senior Kevin Cutler the best rebounder.

Sophomore Chris Tower received the academic excellence award and sophomore Bryon Russell received the sixth-man award and Pearl Moore Spirit Award.

Coach Seth Greenberg named Harris, Sears and Frankie Edwards as captains for the 1991-92 team.

The 49ers, 23-9 a year ago, finished 11-17 after losing to Nevada Las Vegas, 49-29, last Friday night in the Big West Conference tournament.

Arm Wrestling Tourney Tonight at L.B. Restaurant

The Yukon Jack Arm Wrestling Championships will be at 8:30 tonight at Bobby McGee’s restaurant in Long Beach.

There will be three men’s weight divisions and one women’s open division.

The event, which will benefit the Los Angeles Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, is part of a series designed to find the nation’s best arm wrestlers. The finals will be June 28 in Tampa, Fla.