June 4, 2001

Four Cavaliers have been named to the USA World Cup team that will defend its World Championship this July in England. Cavaliers Cherie Greer (Virginia `94), Bonnie Rosen (Virginia `93), and head hockey coach Jess Wilk welcome Kara Ariza (Virginia `98) to the squad. Heather Dow, assistant Virginia lacrosse coach, is the assistant coach for the USA team. The Stars and Stripes will look to repeat their victory at the IFWLA (International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations) World Cup Championships which will be held in High Wycombe Abbey, England, June 6-14. The USA has won the last three World Cups and have won four of the five contests.

Greer, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1997 World Cup, won with the United States in both 1993 and 1997. In the suddenvictory period in the 1997 gold medal game, Greer scooped up a ground ball and raced up field where she was fouled going to the cage. Her free position shot caromed off the pads of the Australian keeper and bounced to her USA teammate Amory Rowe, who picked it up and put it in the back of the net for the game-winning goal. Greer won two titles with the Cavaliers (1991, 1993) and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 1994 as she led the nation in scoring as a defense wing.

Rosen also won a world championship in 1997 to go along with two titles with Virginia in 1991 and 1993. Currently the head women's lacrosse coach at Connecticut, Rosen serves on the USLacrosse Board of Governors and is a member of the National Teams Committee as well as the council representative for the Athlete's Council.

Wilk has been a keeper on the United States squad in the two previous World Cups (1993, 1997) and was named the head coach at Virginia in February of 1999 after serving as assistant coach since 1993. In 1997 she served as one of the captains of the USA team.

Ariza, a member of the USA Elite team since 1998, will be representing the country for the third consecutive summer but for the first time in the World Cup. A two-time first-team All-American, Ariza was the MVP of the ACC Championships in 1998 where the Cavaliers claimed the league tournament title.

Heather Dow, long revered as one of the giants in the world of women's lacrosse, has been a coach of the team since 1990 after being a member of the team that won the silver in 1986 and the gold in 1989. Along with Head USA Coach Sue Stahl, the Stars and Stripes have won the last three world cups (1989, 1993, 1997). Dow was named to the Virginia lacrosse hall of fame in 1999 and in 2000 was selected as the Goalie of the Century by US Lacrosse.

The USA team will participate in a training camp in Charlottesville, VA at St. Anne's-Belfield School from June 22-24. They will have a game on Saturday night, June 23. For more details about the team or the training camp or the World Cup, please contact Chip Rogers, National Teams Committee Chair, at 804-982-5977 or chipr@virginia.edu.