Olympic Sports Scene

 

 

WEEKEND REVIEW

Baseball

Christian Colon (Cal State Fullerton) and Yasmani Grandal (Miami) hit a home run each and TeamUSA opened the 2009 Enbridge Northern Pipeline World Baseball Challenge with a 5-2 victory over Canada at Citizen Stadium in Prince George, British Columbia.

 Diving

Mary Beth Dunnichay (Elwood, Ind.) and Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) came through in the last round to give the U.S. its second medal at the FINA World Championships, winning silver in women's synchronized 10-meter Sunday. Dunnichayand Ishimatsu finished second to 2008 Olympic gold medalists Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin. This is the first medal at a world event for the 16-year-olds, who were fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2007 World Championships and eighth at the 2008 World Cup.

 On Saturday, Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) and Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) earned a silver medal in the men's 3-meter synchro event. For Ipsen, who had never been to a World Championships before, the enormity of the competition was a little unnerving for the 16-year-old, but he had three-time Olympian Dumaisbeside him through it all.

The medals are a breakthrough for the United States, which has come up short for a medal in the past two Olympic Games. New high performance director Steve Foley has placed an emphasis on synchronized events as the U.S. looks toward London 2012.

 Despite the participation of 2008 Olympic silver-medalist Jonathan Horton (Houston, Texas) and 2008 NCAA all-around champion Steven Legendre (Flower Mound, Texas), the U.S. men finished sixth in team all-around competition at the 2009 Japan Cup, July 18, in Chiba, Japan.

Legendre and 2009 Winter Cup parallel bars gold medalist Danell Leyva (Miami, Fla.) posted a strong showing on the final day of competition at the 2009 Japan Cup at the Makuhari Event Hall in Chiba, Japan. Levya finished seventh overall, earning fourth on high bar with the mark of 15.1. Legendre finished tenth with an all-around score of 84.350, despite placing third on floor exercise with a score of 15.4.

 

Top-ranked U.S. players Kayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass.) and Christal Ransom (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won two of Team USA's five women's matches during an exhibition team event against Brazil on Thursday in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Beijing Paralympian Myles Porter (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won two of the 17 U.S. medals won at the Pan Am Games for the Blind in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

The 2009 USA Shooting National Shotgun Championships came to a close at Ft. Carson's International Shooting Park Saturdaay with John Mullins and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Corey Cogdell earning national titles in the Trap event.

On Sunday, Abby Wambach scored her 100th career goal in her hometown to lead the U.S. Women's National Team to a 1-0 victory against Canada in front of 8,443 fans at Marina Auto Stadium in Rochester, N.Y. She becomes the ninth woman in soccer history to score 100 career international goals, and the fifth American, joining Mia Hamm (158), Kristine Lilly (129), Michelle Akers (105) and Tiffeny Milbrett (100). Wambach's 100th goal comes in just her 129th career match, giving her the best goals-to-games ratio in U.S. history.

 

The USA Softball Women's National team clinched a spot in the title match of the KFC World Cup of Softball with an 8-1 decision over Australia Sunday at ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla. Ashley Hansen (Chandler, Ariz.) broke the game open in the third with a grand slam to right field, making the first homerun of her National Team a big one.

 Team USA has gone undefeated heading into Monday night's World Cup Championship Game with Australia, which won a tie-breaker with Canada and Japan, both who also finished at 3-2, to make the finals.

Photos and more exclusives from the World Cup are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/asausasoftball/ and Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/asausasoftball/.

Men's Slow Pitch National Team:finished undefeated in the Border Battle exhibition series then won the inaugural Border Battle on Saturday against the Canadian National Team at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Americans won 30-23, behind 17 runs on 17 hits in the fourth, on a game shown on ESPN.

The first-ever USA Softball Men's Slow Pitch National Team

 

International Softball Federation World Men's Softball Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, which continues through July 26. The team opened with a 15-0 loss against defending World Champions Netherlands; 7-0 win against Denmark; and 3-0 win against Japan. Team USA is currently ranked second in their pool behind Netherlands.

Men's Fast Pitch National Team:

The USA Softball Men's Fast Pitch National Team is 2-1 at the

The synchronized swimming team technical competition at the 2009 FINA World Championships wrapped up earlier today (Monday), leaving the United States in seventh place with a mark of 93.333.

Wins by Sanya Richards, Jeremy Wariner, Anna Willard, Dawnand Dexter Faulk highlighted American competition at the Harper Meeting Areva in Paris, the fourth leg of the AF Golden League 2009.

Richards remained on track to win a share of the $1 million Golden League jackpot Friday when she won the women's 400 meters in 49.34 seconds. Wariner coasted to victory in the men's 400m, running 45.28 on a cold, windy night in Paris. Willard was running in fifth place with 100m to go in the women's 800, when she surged down the final straightaway to claim victory in a huge personal best 1:58.80.

The American women went 1, 2, 3 in the 100m hurdles as reigning Olympic gold medalist Harper triumphed in 12.68. Two-time World Outdoor champion Michelle Perry was the runner-up in 12.75 and two-time USA Outdoor champion Ginnie Powell was third in 12.81. Lolo Jones, world-ranked No. 1 for 2008, finished fifth in 12.91. Faulk won the men's 110m hurdles in 13.14. 2007 double World Outdoor champion Bernard Lagat ran a strong race in the men's 3,000m, finishing as the runner-up to 2008 Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 champion Kenesia Bekele in a personal best 7:33.15.

 

 

Volleyball

Beach:

On Sunday, in the 53rd edition of the Manhattan Beach Open, Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs won the women's event, while Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal captured the men's title.

 

 

Men's:

The United States secured its lead in Pool A and earned a spot in the World League final round with a 3-0 (25-21, 32-30, 31-29) victory over Netherlands on Friday at Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. They would follow that up on Saturday with another 3-0 defeat of Netherlands to move their record to 9-3 in World League play.

 

 

Junior:

The U.S. Women's Junior National Team lost to Turkey 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 on the third and final day of first-round pool play in the FIVB Women's Junior World Championship (Under-20) competition in Tijuana, Mexico. Now 0-3 in the World Championship event, Team USA will compete in the second-round Pool G vying for classification positions 9-16 in Tijuana.

Team USA asserted themselves as defending champs using the final three quarters to rout their opponent pulling away for a 19-6 victory on the first day of the FINA World Championships. Underneath a sweltering sun the U.S. women got off to a slow start as Kazakhstan posted three straight goals to open up a 3-0 advantage at the 5:23 mark in the period. Rather than call a time out, first year Head Coach Adam Krikorian let his team weather the storm and they charged back.

Water Ski

Eleven athletes won national titles at the 3rd annual USHA Hydrofoil Nationals, July 16-19, at Water Valley Lakes in Windsor, Colo. Close to 30 of the nation's top hydrofoil athletes competed during the four-day event, which was conducted by the United States Hydrofoil Association and hosted by the Rocky Mountain Hydrofoil Club.

2009 European champion Azerbaijan defeated the United States, 4-3, in a men's freestyle dual meet on Saturday night. Winning bouts for the United States were Shawn Bunch (Columbus, Ohio) at 60 kg/132 lbs., Bryce Hasseman (Iowa City, Iowa) at 84 kg/185 lbs. and and Tervel Dlagnev (Cedar Falls, Iowa) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.

 

 

Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) won a silver medal in Greco-Roman at the Heydar Aliyev Golden Grand Prix tournament on July 19 in Baku. The U.S. was tied for 10th in the team standings.

 

 

WEEKLY PREVIEW (July 20 - July 26)

Baseball:

Game two of the 2009 World Baseball Challenge for the U.S. will be against Germany, Monday, July 20, 2009 at Citizen Stadium (Prince George, British Columbia) at 7:00 PM (10:00 PM ET). Major League Baseball has collaborated with USA Baseball to sponsor the second annual Breakthrough Series at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif. from July 20-23. The event is designed to showcase high school junior and senior baseball players from urban areas throughout the United States who have not participated in other travel and high-end tournaments. The Breakthrough Series will consist of instruction and a round-robin series followed by a championship game featuring selected players from among four teams.

 

 

Basketball:

The 2009 Women's FIBA U19 World Championship gets underway this week (July 23) and runs through August 2. The Championships include 16 national teams comprised of athletes 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1990) that qualified through their FIBA zone tournaments.

The U.S. is slated to open preliminary round play against Spain on July 23, followed by China on July 24 and Mali on July 25. The top three finishing teams in each preliminary round group will advance to the July 27-29 second round, the quarterfinals will be played on July 31, semifinal action is scheduled for Aug. 1 and the gold medal will be contested on Aug. 2.

Twenty-three of the top young NBA talents will assemble Wednesday in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the July 23-25 USA Basketball Men's National Team mini-camp. The USA Basketball Showcase, which is being held July 25, 8 p.m. PDT at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, features the participants in the USA National Team mini-camp divided into white and blue squads.

 

 

Soccer:

The U.S. Women's National Team now travels to Charleston, S.C., to face Canada in the second-game of a two-part series, this one at Blackbaud Stadium on Wednesday, July 22 at 8 p.m. ET. The match will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol. Fans can also follow the match online via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker.

 

Softball: Women's National Team --

 

The USA Softball Women's National Team looks to continue its undefeated season when they go for the Gold Medal at the KFC World Cup of Softball Monday night against Australia, aired live on ESPN 2 starting at 9 p.m. EST. Men's National Fast Pitch Team -- The USA Softball Men's Fast Pitch National Team (2-1) continues playing in the International Softball Federation World Men's Softball Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, through July 26.

The men play Philippines on Monday; Botswana on Tuesday; Great Britain on Wednesday; and Mexico on Thursday. Finals are July 24-26.

 

 

Swimming:

U.S. swimmers continue to prepare for the upcoming World Championships in Rome,  which begin Sunday, July 26.

 

 

Track & Field:

World champions, national champions, record holders and Hall of Famers aplenty will compete for Team USA at the 2009 World Masters Athletics Championships, July 28-August 8 in Lahti, Finland. The championships will feature athletes from all over the world ranging in age from 30-95+ in an impressive display of speed, strength, and endurance for all ages. Track events will range from 100 meters to 10,000 meters, while field events will include the full range of jumps and throws.

 

 

USOC:

The U.S. Jr. Olympic Skills competition, the official youth skills competition of the United  States Olympic Committee (USOC), will convene on the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. July 23-26 for the National Finals. Seventy-two athletes ages 8-13 will compete in four fundamental sports - basketball, soccer, tennis and track & field - for the opportunity to be crowned champions of their sport.

The finalists represent the event's top 72 young athletes from the United States and Puerto Rico who advanced to the National Finals by winning their age and gender category at one of 130 regional events.

More than 1.6 million competitors participated in nearly 8,000 local qualifying events hosted by 2,500 community organizations throughout the country. Now in its fourth year, the U.S. Jr. Olympic Skills competition, with the help of sponsors McDonald's, Oroweat and the U.S. Tennis Association, introduces America's youth to the excitement of a multi-sport competition, encouraging participation in Olympic sport, emphasizing fair and friendly play, and promoting an active lifestyle.

 

 

Volleyball:

The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team will compete in Pool E with Russia and Serbia in the final round of FIVB World League, July 22-26 in Belgrade, Serbia.

 

 

Water Polo:

World Championship action continues from Rome for both the U.S. men and women. The U.S. men get competition underway against Italy today followed by Macedonia (July 22) and Romania (July 24). Meanwhile, after a opening game win against Kazakhstan, the U.S. women now face Russia (July 21) followed by Greece (July 23).

Wrestling

 

Water Polo

Track & Field

Synchronized Swimming

Softball

Women's National Team:

Soccer

Shooting

Judo

Gymnastics