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US Field Hockey Names Women's Americas Cup Team

The U.S. Field Hockey Association has announced its 16-member team to represent the United States at the inaugural Americas Cup, March 8-18 in Kingston, Jamaica.

A qualifying event for the 2002 International Hockey Federation World Cup, the Americas Cup features eight teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. The winner of the tournament qualifies automatically for the 2002 World Cup in Perth, Australia, while the next three highest placing teams are expected to earn invitations to the World Cup Qualifying Tournament, Sept. 18-30 in Abbeville, France.

In addition to Olympic Games veterans and Pan American Games silver medallists, Tracey Belbin's roster features eight athletes competing in their first international competitions with the U.S. senior team. University of North Carolina teammates Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.), Abby Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Kristen McCann (Allentown, Pa.) and Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.) will be looking for their first international caps along with the University of Maryland's Autumn Welsh (Macungie, Pa.), Princeton University's Melanie Meerschwam (Amstelveen, NED) and University of Michigan sisters Kelli and Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif.).

Martin, McCann, Tran, Welsh, Meerschwam and Kelli Gannon all earned collegiate all-America honors in 2000.

Even with the abundance of first-time team members, the U.S. is not without experience. Tracey Fuchs (Ann Arbor, Mich.) is the most-capped woman in U.S. Field Hockey history with 187 international appearances, and will be joined by fellow 1996 Olympians Katie Kauffman (West Lawn, Pa.) and Jill Reeve (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.). The trio has played in a combined 359 international matches including the 1999 Pan American Games where they joined Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.), Carla Tagliente (Cortland, N.Y.) and goalkeeper Peggy Storrar (Mahopac, NY) in capturing the silver medal for the U.S.  Tara Jelley (Greenfield, Mass.) and Tracey Larson (Morrisville, Pa.) competed for the U.S. team at the 2000 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Milton Keynes, England.

    At the Americas Cup, the U.S. will compete in Pool B with Mexico, Bermuda and host Jamaica. Pool A includes Olympic silver medallist Argentina, Canada, Uruguay and Venezuela.

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