IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former Hawkeye and current University of Iowa assistant softball coach Stacy May-Johnson was one of 18 players, plus one alternate, selected to the 2011 USA Softball Women’s National Team. May-Johnson will be the first Hawkeye softball player to compete for Team USA. |IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former Hawkeye and current University of Iowa assistant softball coach Stacy May-Johnson was one of 18 players, plus one alternate, selected to the 2011 USA Softball Women’s National Team. May-Johnson will be the first Hawkeye softball player to compete for Team USA.
May-Johnson and the USA Softball Team will now hit the road for their first competition, a two-game exhibition series in Plant City, Fla., on Saturday, June 25. The squad will also play exhibition series in Salem, Va., and Bowie, Md., on June 29 and July 1, respectively. All exhibition contests will be doubleheaders against the USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team.
From July 9-17, 12 of the 18 players will play in their first International tournament at the Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship in Surrey, B.C., before returning home for the World Cup of Softball VI, July 21-25 in Oklahoma City.
The USA Softball Women’s National Team will seek its ninth Pan American Games title, Oct. 17-23, in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the final competition of 2011. With six consecutive titles, USA Softball will again be a top contender during the XVI Pan American Games.
South Florida head coach Ken Eriksen will lead the National Team and will be assisted by Olympic Gold Medalists Tairia Flowers (head coach at Cal State Northridge) and Stacey Nuveman (assistant coach at San Diego State), who retired their cleats following the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Oregon head coach Mike White is also making his first appearance with the team following a successful career as a USA Softball athlete in the Men’s Fast Pitch National Team Program.
Joining May-Johnson on Team USA are Valerie Arioto (California), Whitney Canion (Baylor), Kaitlin Cochran (Arizona State), Lauren Gibson (Tennessee), Kelly Grieve (Tennessee), Taylor Hoagland (Texas), Ashley Holcombe (Alabama), Molly Johnson (Kentucky), Megan Langenfeld (UCLA), Jenae Leles (Arizona), Michelle Moltrie (Florida), Christine Orgeron (Louisiana-Lafayette), Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma), Brittany Schutte (Florida), Jordan Taylor (Michigan), Rhea Taylor (Missouri) and Chelsea Thomas (Missouri). Jessica Shults (Oklahoma) is the team alternate.
