Team USA Weekend Preview: Sept. 28, 2012

Elite American athletes, including some who competed in the London 2012 Olympic Games, are participating in events around the world this weekend, including action in wrestling, cycling, triathlon and field hockey. All of the details are below in this edition of Team USA Weekend Preview.

TRIATHLON

ITU World Triathlon Series, Sept. 28, Yokohama, Japan

Olympians Sarah Groff and Gwen Jorgensen will compete Friday in the ITU World Triathlon Yokohama, the seventh stop in the World Triathlon Series. Groff won the Beijing International Triathlon two weeks ago and placed fourth at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Jorgensen won a World Cup event earlier this season and is ranked No. 27 in the WTS standings.

The event consists of a 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike race and 10k run.

Also in triathlon:

ITU Duathlon World Series, Sept. 29-30, Cali, Colombia

GYMNASTICS

Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions, Sept. 27-30, various sites

The Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Championships moves to Colorado this weekend for performances Saturday at World Arena in Colorado Springs and Sunday at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, a suburb of Denver. The weekend began Thursday night with a performance in West Valley City, Utah. The Kellogg’s Tour features performances by a number of U.S. Olympians, including members of the “Fierce Five” U.S. Olympic women’s gold-medal winning team.

CYCLING

USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships, Sept. 27-30, Carson, Calif.

Olympians Lauren Tamayo, Bobby Lea and Giddeon Massie are among the cyclists in the stacked high-level fields in the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships. The event, being held at the Home Depot Center’s VELO Sports Center in Carson, Calif., continues through Sunday.

Tamayo, a silver medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the women’s team pursuit, will lead her own women’s team Friday in the team pursuit. Lea finished 12th in the Olympic men’s omnium. Massie competed in the 2004 and 2008 Games. Other top riders include Danny Robertson, Matthew Baranoski, Kevin Mansker and Madalyn Godby. Overall, 23 elite national championships will be decided.

Also in cycling:

Mountain Bike 24-hour National Championships, Sept. 29-30, Colorado Springs

Giro di Lombardia start, Sept. 29, Italy

TV: 8:30 a.m. ET Saturday, Universal Sports

SOCCER

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, Sept. 22-Oct. 13, Azerbaijan

The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team will play Korea DPR Saturday in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup with a quarterfinal berth on the line. Both teams are 1-0-1 and the game Saturday is the final one in group play. The top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals, and looming in third place is France (0-0-2).

Summer Green scored three goals for the United States in its 6-0 win over Gambia on Tuesday. A win Saturday would guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals, but the United States could also advance with a tie or a loss against Korea DPR, depending on its goal differential for the three preliminary-round games. The quarterfinals are scheduled to be played Oct. 4 and 5.

TV: 8 a.m. ET Saturday, ESPN3

Also in soccer:

AGS Cup
     U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team 
          ... vs. Azerbaijan, Sept. 29, Alicante, Spain
          ... vs. Georgia, Sept. 30
          ... vs. United Arab Emirates, Oct. 1

FIGURE SKATING

Nebelhorn Trophy, Sept. 27-29, Oberstdorf, Germany

Caydee Denney and John Coughlin, who won the U.S. pairs championship in their first season together, begin their new season in the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. Denney competed in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games with partner Jeremy Barrett. Gretchen Donlan and Andrew Speroff, 2012 U.S. pewter medalists, also will skate for the United States. 

Also among nine senior U.S. skaters at the event are 2012 Four Continents bronze medalist Caroline Zhang in the women’s competition, Stephen Carriere and Keegan Messing in the men’s, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates, a 2010 Olympian, in ice dancing.

Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Sept. 26-30, Bled, Slovenia

Courtney Hicks, the 2011 U.S. junior champion, Joshua Farris, the reigning world junior silver medalist, and ice dancers Alexandra Aldridge and Daniel Eaton will all be looking for their second ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating medals in Bled, Slovenia. In all, eight U.S. skaters are competing. Aldridge and Eaton, and Farris, each won gold at JGP United States in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Also in figure skating:

Northwest Pacific Regional Figure Skating Championships, Sept. 28-Oct. 2, Eugene, Ore.

WRESTLING

FILA Women’s World Championships, Sept. 27-29, Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada

Adeline Gray of USA Wrestling captured gold on the first day of the FILA Women’s World Championships, defeating Canada’s Dorothy Yeats in the championship match of the 67 kilograms/147.5 pounds weight class Thursday. She ended the match with a pin.

“The finals match was just everything I wanted it to be,” Gray said. “I executed what I needed to execute and everything came together for me. I’m really excited to win a world title.”

Alyssa Lampe also earned a medal Thursday, capturing bronze in the 51kg/112.25 weight class.

Four more U.S. wrestlers will compete the next two days, including 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Clarissa Chun Saturday in the 48kg weight class. Also competing Saturday will be 2012 Olympian Elena Pirozhkova at 63kg. Helen Maroulis will wrestle Friday at 55kg and Iris Smith, a 2005 world champion, will compete at 72kg.

FIELD HOCKEY

Electric Ireland Women’s Champions Challenge I, Sept. 29-Oct. 7, Dublin, Ireland

The USA Field Hockey Women’s National Team will open play Saturday against Scotland in the Electric Ireland Women’s Champions Challenge I. The United States will also play preliminary-round games against South Africa on Sunday and Ireland on Tuesday.

The quarterfinals will be played Thursday, followed by the semifinals Oct. 6 and the medal round Oct. 7. The tournament features eight countries split into two preliminary-round groups of four each.

The U.S. team includes eight 2012 Olympians, led by two-time Olympian Lauren Crandall, Katie O’Donnell and Katelyn Falgowski.

BASKETBALL

FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship, Sept. 28-30, Alcobendas, Spain

The USA Basketball men’s and women’s 3x3 U18 teams will open play Friday in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship in Spain, when the men face Hungary and the women face Hong Kong. It will be a busy opening day for both teams as the men will also play Turkey, Spain and Israel on Friday, and the women will play Lithuania and Poland following their opener against Hong Kong.

The men will play Germany, Italy and Brazil to finish out preliminary-round play Saturday, and the women will play Taiwan and China. Playoff and medal rounds will all be played Sunday.

DeMonte Flannigan of Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School in Cleveland, leads the men’s team, along with Larry Austin of Lanphier High School in Springfield, Ill., Brett Brady of Highlands Ranch (Colo.) High School, and Rondae Jefferson of Chester (Pa.) High School. The four women’s players are Kaela Davis of Buford High School in Suwanee, Ga.; Diamond DeShields of Norcross (Ga.) High School, Erica McCall of Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield, Calif., and Brianna Turner of Manvel High School in Pearland, Texas. DeShields was MVP of the FIBA U17 World Championship, in which Team USA won gold with an 8-0 record.

VOLLEYBALL

NORCECA Beach Tour, Sept. 28-30, Chula Vista, Calif.

Summer Ross and Emily Day, who teamed up to win gold in beach volleyball at the 2012 World University Championships, will be among 10 U.S. women’s athletes and 16 men competing in the NORCECA Beach Tour stop this weekend. The tournament begins Friday and will be held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

Ross, who grew up in nearby Carlsbad and plays sand volleyball at Pepperdine University, will team with Morgan Beck, an indoor player at the University of California. Day will play with regular partner Heather Hughes; they combined to place fourth at the 2011 Pan American Games. Men’s teams include Jeff Carlson and Tony Ciarelli, who both played indoor volleyball at the University of Southern California and are playing together internationally for the first time since 2008. Ty Loomis, who earned a silver medal at the 2007 Pan Am Games, will team with Avery Drost.

Athletes from 12 nations are entered in the competition.

SPEEDSKATING

U.S. Single Distance Short Track Speedskating Championships, Sept. 27-30, Kearns, Utah

World Cup bronze medalist Jessica Smith won the women’s 9- and 4-lap time trials Thursday, the first day of the U.S. Single Distance Short Track Speedskating Championships. The event, also known as the U.S. Speedskating Fall Trials, continues through Sunday at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah.

Olympians J.R. Celski, Lana Gehring, Travis Jayner and Alyson Dudek are among the skaters competing. Celski finished runner-up to Chris Creveling in the men’s 9-lap time trial. Creveling also won the 4-lap event. Results from this weekend are used to seed athletes in individual distance races (500, 1000, 1500 meters). Six men and six women will be named to the World Cup team, and overall distance champions will be named after the conclusion of competition Sunday.

JUDO

IJF World Cup, Sept. 29-30, Rome

Competition begins Saturday in an IJF World Cup event to be held in Rome.

TENNIS

Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup, Sept. 25-30, Barcelona

Stefan Kozlov and Noah Rubin each won singles matches Thursday against Russian opponents, and Jared Donaldson and Kozlov won a doubles match in the Boys Group A class of the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup being played in Barcelona. In Girls Group A, Louisa Chirico and Taylor Townsend won singles matches, and Townsend and Gabrielle Andrews won a doubles match against Egypt.

Townsend, the world’s No. 1-ranked junior girls player, leads a U.S. squad of six that is seeded No. 1 in both the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup. The tournament continues through Sunday.

ICE HOCKEY

CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game, Sept. 29, Buffalo, N.Y.

The inaugural CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game will include 22 players from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The game will be played at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. In all, 40 top American players eligible for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft will play in the game. Included in the rosters are defensemen Seth Jones and Will Butcher, and goaltender Jared Rutledge, who all helped the U.S. National Under-18 Team win gold at the 2012 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship.

TRACK AND FIELD

USA 5km Race Walk Championships, Sept. 29, Kingsport, Tenn.

Race walkers will line up for a shot at a national title when the USA 5-kilometer Race Walk Championships are held Saturday in Kingsport, Tenn. Dan Serianni (men’s) and Maite Moscoso (women’s) are the defending champs.

Also in track and field:

USA Masters 5km Championships, Sept. 30, Syracuse, N.Y.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor for TeamUSA.org. Material from various news services and press releases from National Governing Bodies was used to compile  this report. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.