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US Field Hockey Names 2001 Women's National Team

The 2001 U.S. Field Hockey Association U.S. Women's National Team will combine veteran experience with youthful enthusiasm as the newly-named squad seeks to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

      Head coach Tracey Belbin's 2001 squad ranges in experience from 14-year national team veteran and two-time Olympian Tracey Fuchs (Ann Arbor, Mich.) to 17-year-old high school senior Kelly Dostal (Hatfield, Mass). Fuchs competed as a member of the 1988 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Teams and is currently an assistant coach at the Univ. of Michigan, while Dostal, a two-time high school All-America selection at Smith Academy, impressed selectors with her play during the 2000 United Airlines Field Hockey League. Dostal was also named to the U.S. Under-19 and U.S. Under-21 squads.

      Selected during A-Camp held Jan. 3-7 at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., the team features eight athletes returning from the 2000 National Team. Veteran team members joining Fuchs in returning to the squad are Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.), Tara Jelley (Greenfield, Mass.), Katie Kauffman (Reading, Pa.), Tracey Larson (Morrisville, Pa.), Kristen McCann (Allentown, Pa.), Jill Reeve (Hoosick Falls, NY) and goalkeeper Peggy Storrar (Mahopac, NY).  Jessica Coleman (Oceanport, NJ) served as an alternate to the 2000 National Team, while Natalie Dawson (Berlin, NJ) toured with the U.S. developmental squad.

      Reeve, an 11-year national team veteran and Kauffman, a six-year member of the team, joined Fuchs on the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team. Reeve, Kauffman and Storrar are recent recipients of the US Field Hockey Athlete of the Year award with Storrar earning the honor in 1998, Reeve in '99 and Kauffman in 2000.

      Entering her 4th year on the National Team, Barber was a member of the 1998 World Cup Team and won a silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games. Jelley, the head coach at Sacred Heart Univ., and Larson, a 1999 All-America selection at Penn State, were members of the 2000 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Team, while McCann earned All-America honors while concluding her Univ. of North Carolina playing career in 2000.  (more)

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      In addition to McCann, the team features five athletes who earned collegiate All-America honors in 2000 including the Univ. of Iowa's Dawson (Berlin, NJ), the Univ. of Michigan's Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif.), the Univ. of North Carolina's Abby Martin (Saratoga Springs, NY) and Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.) and Princeton University's Melanie Meerschwam (Amstelveen, The Netherlands). Coleman earned All-America honors in 1999 at the Univ. of Virginia.

      Meerschwam, Martin and Tran join the Univ. of Michigan's Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif.) and the Univ. of North Carolina's Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Bch, Del.) in moving up from the 2000 Under-21 Team. Kim Miller (Virginia Beach, Va.), a 1999 All-America selection at Old Dominion and a member of the 1994 and '95 U.S. Under-18 teams, returns for her first year on the National Team.

      The U.S. women will face a full schedule in 2001 when the team enters a residency program in Virginia Beach, Va. on April 15. The team will live and train in its new home over the next four years.

      The  U.S. will travel to the first Americas Cup in Jamaica in March with the winner earning a spot in the 2002 International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Cup.  The U.S. will compete in Pool B of the tournament with Canada, Mexico, Uruguay and host Jamaica. Olympic silver medallist Argentina, Barbados, Cuba, Chile and Venezuela will comprise Pool A.

      The team will continue its quest for a World Cup berth at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament, Sept 18-30 in Abbeville, France before concluding its international schedule at the FIH Champions Challenge in December in New Delhi. The Champions Challenge features six of the world's top-ranked teams competing in a round-robin format. England, Germany, Korea, South Africa and host India will join the U.S. in the event's inaugural season.

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