LOS ALAMITOS, CA, October 25. THE momentum continued toward the 3rd Annual Speedo Top 40 Festival last week, with U.S. women\u2019s head coach Guy Baker announcing the rosters for the four teams slated to compete in the three-day event early next month (Nov. 5-7) at the USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center in Los Alamitos, Calif. <\/p>\n
The tournament will feature the U.S. women\u2019s Junior National Team and three other teams that were drafted. All teams will be named after a suit provided by Speedo, the tournament\u2019s title sponsor.<\/p>\n
The Top 40 Festival, started in 2002, brings together dozens of elite female water polo players for a three-day event, jam packed with high-level competition, music, spectator contests, silent auctions and much more. Last year\u2019s tournament featured the whole of the World Champion U.S. women\u2019s team, all 13 of them dispersed among four Top 40 teams. <\/p>\n
Baker, the only coach to guide his teams to medals in both Olympics to feature women\u2019s water polo, is excited to get the Junior National Team \u2013 who will be playing in the tournament as Team Aster \u2013 in the water against some good competition. The three teams they will be up against \u2013 Zap, Livewire and Graffiti — will be guided by youth-level (18-under) zone coaches still to be announced.<\/p>\n
All of the drafted teams present a strong mix of senior and youth National Team and collegiate players. 2004 Olympic bronze medalists Kelly Rulon (San Diego, CA\/UCLA) and Jackie Frank (Long Beach, CA) will lead Team Graffiti, bronze medal winner Natalie Golda (La Habra, CA\/UCLA) will team up with 2004 Peter J. Cutino award winner Moriah van Norman (San Diego, CA\/USC) on Team Livewire and Team Zap will be led by Long Beach State attacker Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach, CA\/Long Beach State) and another 2004 bronze medalist in playmaker Thalia Munro (Santa Barbara, CA\/UCLA). <\/p>\n
\u201cI believe all three drafted teams will be very competitive,\u201d said Baker. \u201cThere a lot of new faces to go along with some familiar ones. It should be interesting to see how soon the teams can blend together and I am excited to see how this year's Top 40 plays out. It is my goal that all three teams will give our junior team very difficult games.\u201d <\/p>\n
The games will also serve as a tool for Baker and his staff to evaluate players as they look ahead to their own roster selections for the 2005 World Championships in Canada and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a good way for us to check in with some players to see where we are with things,\u201d said Baker. \u201cAnd maybe to get a look at some people we haven\u2019t had the chance to look at as much before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Junior Circuit<\/b>
\nThe No. 2 ranked U.S. junior women\u2019s squad, which will take its full squad of 14 athletes against the other three teams of 11, will headline the field of four teams. The junior team coaching staff will be using this tournament not only as a competitive tune-up, but as an evaluation tool as it moves closer to the selection of its final roster for the 2005 FINA Junior World Championships in Perth, Australia, January 24-30.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year's Top 40 will be extremely beneficial for the junior team because we will be playing as our own team, not a mixed team,\u201d said U.S. junior team head coach Kyle Utsumi. \u201cAt that point, we will have 12 field players and must narrow the team down to the 11 who will compete in Perth. We are carrying 18 players right now and will go to 14 in late October. It is a strong group with competition at all positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olympians Abound<\/b>
\nIn the mix with the 44 athletes that will be competing that weekend are 2004 Olympic bronze medalists Natalie Golda (La Habra, CA\/UCLA\/New York AC), Kelly Rulon (San Diego, CA\/UCLA) and Thalia Munro (Santa Barbara, CA\/UCLA), Heather Moody (Green River, WY\/San Diego State\/New York AC), Nicolle Payne (Cerritos, CA\/UCLA\/New York AC) and Jackie Frank (Long Beach, CA\/Stanford). Three athletes\u2014Moody, Payne and Gubba Sheehy\u2014competed on the silver medal-winning 2000 Olympic Team, with all three slated to play for New York for the open tournament. <\/p>\n
Open Tournament<\/b>
\nThe third installment of this growing tournament will feature yet another new twist: a 12-team, 24-game girls open tournament that will run in conjunction with the Top 40 tournament games. The teams were accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis and can carry up to 15 athletes. The goal is to give more athletes exposure to the National Team environment while setting the games in a festival-type atmosphere. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the Top 40 Festival to keep growing,\u201d said Baker. \u201cThe idea is to make it a fun event for people to come to where they can see some great water polo and have a great time doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Open Tournament \u2013 Teams and Brackets<\/b>
\nGroup A\tGroup B\tGroup C\tGroup D
\nNew York AC\tSan Diego Shores\tSoCal\tGolden West
\nTRAP\tCorona del Mar (CdM)\tCommerce\tCoronado
\nCHAWP\tRiverside\tKAI Polo\tLos Angeles WPC<\/p>\n
Carnival Corner<\/b>
\nAmong the activities planned for the weekend are a radar gun station, a weight room circuit, some children\u2019s entertainment and a dunk-tank, where fans will get the opportunity to put Baker and other Olympic coaches and players in the drink. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf people want to pay more money for us to take the cage down for their throw, that\u2019s fine,\u201d said a good-humored Baker, suspecting he\u2019ll be a pretty popular victim in the protective tank. \u201cThey\u2019ll just have to back up a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gates will open one hour prior to the first game everyday, with festival hours set at 3:00-5:30 p.m. on Friday and 1:00-5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. <\/p>\n
Namesakes <\/b>
\nFor the tournament, each team will be named after a particular Speedo swimsuit. Each team\u2019s goalkeeper will wear her team\u2019s namesake suit during competition for the duration of the tournament. For more information on Speedo or its products, visit them on the web at www.speedousa.com.<\/p>\n
Tournament Rosters<\/b>
\nTeam Graffiti\tTeam Livewire\tTeam Zap\tTeam Aster (U.S. Juniors)*
\nKelly Rulon\tScotti Shafer\tCassie Azevedo\tElsie Windes
\nJaqueline Gauthier\tKrista Peterson\tShana Welch\tErika Figge
\nJenna Murphy\tKatie Rulon\tAnne Belden\tBrittany Hayes
\nJennifer D'Anna\tMoriah van Norman\tDrue Wawrzynski\tMolly Cahill
\nKristina Kunkel\tGrace Reynolds\tBeth Novick\tGabbie Domanic
\nStacia Peterson\tNatalie Golda\tThalia Munro\tTanya Gandy
\nLauren Wenger\tHanna Luber\tKelty Luber\tKatie Hansen
\nLauren Heineck\tBreana Allison\tJamie Hipp\tLauren Silver
\nJackie Frank\tBetsey Armstrong\tLauren Dennis\tJillian Kraus
\nBrittany Fullen\tJessica Goldner\tCassie Azevedo\tCami Craig
\n\t\t\tKacy Kunkel
\n\t\t\tChristina Hewko
\n\t\t\tMarina Mayer
\n\t\t\tAimee Stachowski
\n\t\t\tKatie Flanagan
\n\t\t\tAlison Gregorka
\n\t\t\tEmily Feher
\n\t\t\tMeridith McColl
\n* Roster to be narrowed to 14 players on October 24. The four players not selected to Junior Team roster will be drafted onto one of the remaining three teams.<\/p>\n
Ticket Prices<\/b>
\nTickets for the 2004 Speedo Top 40 Festival will only be available at the door.<\/p>\n
General Admission\tAll-Session Pass (3 days)\tPer Day Pass
\nAdults\t$25.00\t$10.00
\nStudents\t$15.00\t$7.00<\/p>\n
Fans will also be able to purchase a festival package admission, which will include one festival games and activities card and a bingo card. Additional festival cards and bingo cards can be purchased for $5.00 each. <\/p>\n
Festival Package\tAll-Session Pass (3 days)
\nAdults\t$30.00
\nStudents\t$20.00<\/p>\n
The Information Superhighway<\/b>
\nFor more information on the Top 40 Festival or the open tournament, contact the Women\u2019s Programs Office at 562-799-8506<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOS ALAMITOS, CA, October 25. THE momentum continued toward the 3rd Annual Speedo Top 40 Festival last week, with U.S. women\u2019s head coach Guy Baker announcing the rosters for the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n