Olympic Sports Scene

WEEKEND REVIEW

Baseball

Eleven different players registered a hit for Team USA on Sunday and the USA Baseball National Team (Collegiate) beat Team Canada 20-3 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park for its fourth consecutive win of the summer. Team USA and Team Canada will finish its five game series later tonight, Monday,  June 29, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

USA Baseball (USAB) has announced a group of 34 players who will be considered for inclusion on its 2009 18U National Team for international competition. The 34 players, along with 10 alternates, were selected from those who participated last week in the 17th Annual Tournament of Stars, presented by Major League Baseball, at USAB's National Training Complex in Cary.

Basketball

 

The 2009 USA Men's World University Games Team is 2-1 thus far in three exhibition games, defeating Canada, 85-81, Russia, 65-61, and falling to host Serbia, 98-82, as the team prepares for the 2009 World University Games, June 30-July 12.

Equestrian

Richard Spooner (Agua Dulce, Calif) rode Cristalo to an impressive victory in the rich Monte Carlo Grand Prix du Prince Albert II de Monaco. Forty-five of the best riders in the world went to task but when it was all over, Spooner was more than a second faster than second-place finisher.

Field Hockey

 

USA Field Hockey announced the 24-member roster for the 2009-2010 Women's National Team. The team features a number of 2008 Olympians, as well as former members of the Developmental Squad promoted to international competition. Veterans such as team captain Carrie Lingo and goalkeeper Amy Tran return, as do strikers Keli Smith and Tiffany Huisman (née Snow).

Ice Hockey

RowingTwenty-one national titles were awarded on Saturday on the final day of competition at the 2009 US Rowing National Championships on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The 138th running of the regatta featured Olympic medalists, world champions and many of the nation's top athletes who are in training for the 2009 FISA World Rowing Championships.

USA Hockey named John Tortorella, head coach of the National Hockey League's New York Rangers, and Scott Gordon, head coach of the NHL's New York Islanders, as assistant coaches for the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team for Men's Ice Hockey that will compete in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C.

 

Soccer

After taking a 2-0 lead in the first half behind goals by Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, Brazil scored three unanswered goals in the second half to win the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The U.S. were the only teams to ever lead Brazil before the five-time world champions came storming back to win.

 Track & Field

2008 Olympic gold medalist Dawn won her first national outdoor title Harper in the 100m hurdles and the women's Visa Championship Series crown on the final day of the 2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene. Long jumper Dwight Phillips was declared the winner of the men's Visa Championships Series. Phillips won his fifth U.S. men's long jump title Saturday with a leap of 8.57m/28-1.50 (+2.2 mps). The final event of the 2009 USATF Outdoor Visa Championship Series, the USA Outdoor Championships served as the selection event for the 2009 World Outdoor Championships in Berlin, Germany, August 15-23.

 

Triathlon

Jarrod Shoemaker produced the fastest run of the day to earn a fifth-place finish at the ITU Hy-Vee Triathlon Elite Cup in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday. Teammate Matt Reed blasted the bike course to build a large lead heading out onto the run, but faded over the 10k course and finished 20th. Rising stars Kevin Collington and Matt Chrabot finished 13th and 18th, respectively.

 

Sarah Haskins led the U.S. women with a ninth-place finish. Haskins, Sara McLarty, and Laura Bennett were among the top four out of the water and were among the leaders throughout the bike, but each fell off the pace over the final 10k run. Bennett finished 14th. McLarty did not finish. The foursome of Haskins, Shoemaker, Bennett and Reed took fourth at the inaugural ITU 4x Mixed Team World Championships in Des Moines on Sunday.

Volleyball

Beach:

There were four victories and one loss for USA Volleyball beach teams competing at the SWATCH FIVB World Championships on Saturday in Stavanger, Norway. Olympic gold medal winners Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) opened defense of their 2007 world championship title by posting a 2-0 (21-8, 21-11) victory in 31 minutes over 47th-seeded Morais Abreu and Mario Silva of Angola.

On Monday, Dalhausser and Rogers faced 23rd-seeded American rivals, and 2008 Olympians, Jake(Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) in their next match and defeated Gibb the U.S. team 2-1 (21-14, 16-21, 15-8) in 52 minutes in an All-American Vaagen Harbour center court confrontation.

Men's:

The U.S. Men's National Team swept a pair of matches against China in FIVB World League play over the weekend in San Jose, Calif.. The victory gives the U.S. a 5-1 record in Group A and puts them in the lead. China falls to 1-5. The U.S. Men and the Chinese team will travel to Nanjing, China to play two more World League pool play matches on July 4-5.

Women's:

The U.S. Women's National Team, the 2008 Olympic Games silver medalist, notched a 25-19, 25-14, 25-11 victory over Mexico to improve to 3-0 in Pool A of the Eighth Women's Pan American Cup at the University of Miami's BankUnited Center. The U.S., ranked second in the world by the FIVB, returns to action on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET versus Peru (2-1). Team USA is tied with Puerto Rico atop the Pan American Cup Pool A standings. The Women's Pan American Cup is a qualifying tournament into the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix and the 2009 Women's Final Four. The top three NORCECA teams and top team from South America receive berths into next year's FIVB World Grand Prix. The top two teams from NORCECA, Brazil and the top remaining team from South America qualify for the Final Four to be hosted by Brazil.

Taekwondo:

Flying feet and piercing screams will be in abundance at the Austin (Texas) Convention Center this week as USA Taekwondo conducts its 2009 U.S. National Championship, Junior Olympic Championship, and U.S. National Poomsae Team Trials events June 30-July 5. Over 2,000 athletes ages 6-72, aided by over 550 coaches, will compete during the week. The Senior National Championships (July 4-5) includes forms, sparring, weapons and board breaking events for athletes 14 years of age and older. The Junior Olympic Championships, held June 30-July 3, features Olympic-type sparring competition in both the Grassroot Division and the World Class Division, as well as competition in forms, weapons and board breaking.

The semifinalists in each of the ten 14-17 year-old World Class sparring weight divisions will advance to the Junior National Team Trial/Fight-Off, August 22-23 in Colorado Springs.

Volleyball:

The U.S. Women's National Team will participate in Pan American Cup pool play June 26-30, to determine classification round matches. After the preliminary pool round, the Pan American Cup quarterfinal and classification matches are set for July 2, followed by semifinal matches and additional classification matches on July 3. The championship match and final classification round matches are scheduled for July 4. All non-pool matches will be played at University of Miami.

Classification round matches will be played on July 2 at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. (all ET). Matches on July 3 and final classification matches on July 4 will be played at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. (all ET).

Miami will be a busy location for volleyball the last week of June and first week of July. The 2009 USA Junior Olympic Girls' Volleyball Championships is being played June 26-July 5 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Typically, the tournament attracts 788 teams and approximately 9,500 athletes in addition to parents and relatives. A total of 19 championships are contested in age groups ranging from 12 to 18.

The U.S. Men's National Team continues World League play July 4-5 as they travel to Nanjing, China, to take on the Chinese National Team. The U.S. beat China earlier this weekend in two straight matches.

The FIVB World Beach Volleyball Championships continue through July 5 in Stavanger, Norway.

World University Games:

U.S. athletes from USA Diving, USA Taekwondo, USA Basketball and USA Swimming among others will represent Team USA at the 2009 World University Games in Serbia, June 30 - July 12.