March 1, 2005

Junior Katie Grant along with sophomores Cara-Lynn Lopresti and Amy Stopford were recently named to the USA Field Hockey Pan American Junior Championships team. The team will compete March 16-27 in San Juan, Puerto Rico with a chance to qualify for September's Junior World Cup, Sept. 14-25 in Santiago, Chile. The top three teams at the Pan Am tournament are expected to qualify for the Junior World Cup.

Grant, Lopresti and Stopford combined for 42 goals and 31 assists (115 points) while leading Duke to an 18-5 record and a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship game. Grant is a prolific scorer who has a chance to break Melissa Panasci's school records for career goals and career points next season, while Lopresti and Stopford are both dominant midfield players.

Selected by USA Field Hockey and junior team head coach Tracey Fuchs following February training sessions in Virginia Beach, the 18-player USA roster includes goalkeepers Katherine Blair (Louisville, Ky./Virginia) and Brianna O'Donnell (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton HS) along with field players Laree Beans (Allentown, Pa./North Carolina), Lauren Crandall (Doyelstown, Pa./Wake Forest), Rachel Dawson (Berlin, N.J./North Carolina), Katelyn Falgowski (Landenberg, Pa./St. Marks HS), Mary Fox (St. Louis, Mo./Michigan), Katie Grant (Lehighton, Pa./Duke), Lori Hillman (Gibbsboro, N.J./Michigan), Heather Kendall (Chapel Hill, N.C./North Carolina), Mia Link (Jenkintown, Pa./Virginia), Cara-Lynn Lopresti (San Diego, Calif./Duke), Brooke Miller (Hummelstown, Pa./North Carolina), Katie O'Donnell (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon HS), Lauren Powley (Montaintop, Pa./Maryland), Heather Schnepf (Medford Lakes, N.H./Iowa), Amy Stopford (Hillsborough, N.C./Duke) and Jamie Whitten (Maidens, Va./Wake Forest).

"I'm very, very excited about this team," said USA Field Hockey Junior Team Head Coach Tracey Fuchs. "It was a difficult team to select because of all of the talent we have in our Under-21 program. But, I believe we've selected a well-balanced team with some great depth and a strong backfield. We have a good group and they're anxious to put the USA back in the Junior World Cup.

Fuchs' staff includes USA Field Hockey goalkeeper coach Justine Sowry in addition to assistant coaches Andrew Griffiths (asst. coach, Maryland) and Pam Bustin (head coach, Louisville.). Pam Hixon will serve as the USA's Chef de Mission for the tournament.

The USA will open the tournament in Pool B with Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. Pool A includes Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago. The USA placed second in the most recent Junior Pan Am tournament with a silver medal finish in 2000. The USA also earned a second place finish in 1988. Argentina has won each of the four previous Pan Am junior events and will once again be the tournament favorite in San Juan.

At the Junior World Cup level, the USA has qualified for the quadrennial event in three of the four previous editions of the U21 tournament. The USA's best finish was a 10th place showing in 1989. The USA placed 12th in 1997 and 14th in 2001.