Prior to attending Santa Ana College, Joyce Lawson had already shown her potential as an athlete.

 

At the age of 12 years old, she broke the Jr. Olympic national broad jump record and took second in the 50 yard dash. When she was 16, she joined the L.A. Mercurettes and scored 4119 points in the five events of the Southern Pacific Amateur Athletic Union pentathlon, becoming the first American woman in years to surpass the Olympic standard of 4000 points in the event.

When Lawson came to Santa Ana College she was undoubtedly one of the best athletes at on campus.

 

Although the college did not a have women’s team at the time, she trained under hall of fame coach John Ward and along side the men’s Eastern Conference championship team.

Lawson did make the US Olympic team as an alternate but her attempt for a bid in 1964 was postponed due to illness.