{{short description|American fencer}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Maya Lawrence | image = File:Maya Lawrence 2013 Fencing WCH t111214.jpg | caption = Lawrence at the 2013 World Fencing Championships | birth_name = | fullname = | nickname = | nationality = American | residence = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|7|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | height = 1.70m | weight = 64kg | website = | country = United States | sport = Fencing | event = | collegeteam = Princeton University | club = | team = | turnedpro = | coach = Michel Sebastiani | retired = | coaching = | worlds = | regionals = | nationals = | olympics = | paralympics = | highestranking = | pb = | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }} {{MedalSport|Women's Fencing}} {{MedalOlympic}} {{MedalBronze|2012 London|Team épée}} | show-medals = yes }}
'''Maya Lawrence''' (born 1980)<ref>[http://usfencing.org/athletes/maya-lawrence Maya Lawrence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422123344/http://usfencing.org/athletes/maya-lawrence |date=2012-04-22 }}, USA Fencing. Accessed April 17, 2012.</ref> is an American fencer and was part of the United States Fencing Team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she competed in the individual and team épée events in the fencing competition. She won a bronze medal in the women's team épée alongside Courtney Hurley, Kelley Hurley, and Susie Scanlan.
==Biography== Lawrence grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and attended Teaneck High School, where she took up fencing as a sophomore before graduating in 1998. Her parents are Pat Lawrence, Teaneck High School's fencing coach, and Reginald Lawrence, who has been a sports official in New Jersey.<ref name=Record2012/>
In 2002, Lawrence graduated with honors from Princeton University with a double major in political science and African-American studies. A member of Princeton's fencing team, she was selected as an All-American and earned Ivy League honors during all four years of her attendance there. While at Princeton and after graduating, she was coached by Michel Sebastiani.<ref name=dav>David K. Wiggins, Kevin B. Witherspoon, and Mark Dyreson (2023). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_Mercuries/T16ZEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Michel+Sebastiani%22+fencing&pg=PA217&printsec=frontcover ''Black Mercuries; African American Athletes, Race, and the Modern Olympic Games''], Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp. 217-18.</ref>
She earned a master's degree in English as a Second Language instruction in 2007 from Teachers College, Columbia University.<ref name=Record2012>Staff. [http://www.northjersey.com/sports/Teanecks_Maya_Lawrence_to_represent_USA_fencing_at_Olympics.html "Teaneck's Maya Lawrence to represent USA fencing at Olympics"], ''The Record (Bergen County)'', April 17, 2012. Accessed April 17, 2012.</ref> While studying for her degree, she continued to fence.<ref name=dav/>
Lawrence competed as part of the United States Fencing Team at the 2012 London Olympics in the individual and team épée events in the fencing competition. She won a bronze medal in the women's team épée, alongside Courtney Hurley, Kelley Hurley, and Susie Scanlan.<ref name=dav/>
==See also== *List of Princeton University Olympians *List of Olympic medalists in fencing (women) *List of USFA Hall of Fame members
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Maya}} Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers from New Jersey Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Category:Teaneck High School alumni Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in fencing Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Category:American female épée fencers Category:21st-century African-American sportswomen Category:21st-century American sportswomen Category:20th-century African-American sportswomen Category:20th-century American sportswomen
{{US-fencing-bio-stub}} {{US-Olympic-medalist-stub}}