Liz Johnson (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) and Shannon Pluhowsky player team gold medal. Pluhowsky made history on Sept. 11 after capturing the Masters title and becoming the first woman in the history of the World Tenpin Bowling Association World Women's Championships to earn four gold medals in one tournament.
BUSY WEEK FOR TRIATHLETES
Team USA started off right in a busy week of competition in Beijing on Sept. 7 by earning five age-group world titles and 19 medals at the 2011 ITU Aquathlon World Championships. The momentum was followed by a pair of world titles and eight medals at the ITU Paratriathlon World Championships and a fourth-place finish by Greg Billington (Spokane, Wash.) at the ITU Under-23 World Championships on Sept. 9. Lukas Verzbicas (Orland Hills, Ill.) captured the gold medal on Sept. 11 in the sprint-distance event at ITU Junior World Championships and Team USA earned the most world titles since 2005 at the 2011 ITU Age Group World Championships on Sept 11. Laura Bennett (Palm Beach, Fla.) and Sarah Groff (Cooperstown, N.Y.) finished fifth and 10th on Sept. 11 at the Grand Final of the 2011 ITU World Championship Series. Groff earned a spot on the overall series podium thanks to a fifth top-10 finish of the seven-race series.
ARCHERY
Jamie Van Natta (Toledo, Ohio) added two more world records to her collection by breaking the individual world record with her qualification score of 703 at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai, China, on Sept. 7. Van Natta clinched her second world record of the day with the team's top qualifying score of 2095.
BASKETBALL
The USA Basketball Girls 3x3 Team captured the bronze medal after an impressive effort on Sept. 11 in Rimini, Italy, at the FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championship. Meanwhile, the USA Boys 3x3 Team finished in eighth place after falling to Canada in the last game of the tournament.
BOBSLED
Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Katie Eberling (Palos Hills, Ill.) each captured the title in the brakeman categories, while Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) each won titles as pilots on Sept. 7 at the 2011 National Bobsled Push Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y.
CANOE/KAYAK
Caroline Queen (Darnestown, Md.) qualified the first Olympic position for Team USA, which was the last boat quota slot available in women's kayak, at the 2011 ICF Slalom World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, from Sept. 7-11. A second Olympic slot for Team USA was earned by Scott Parsons' (Bethesda, Md.) 11th -place finish among nations and 15th overall in the men's kayak semifinal on Sept. 11.
DIVING
Team USA won 23 medals at the Junior Pan American Championships on Sept. 8-11 in Medellin, Colombia, with gold-medal performances by Dashiell Enos (Indianapolis, Ind.), Michael Hixon (Amherst, Mass.), Steele Johnson (Carmel, Ind.), Gracia Leydon-Mahoney (Newton, Mass.), Jessica Parratto (Indianapolis, Ind.), Carolina Sculti (Rye, N.Y.), and Nikki Watters (Rohnert Park, Calif.).
EQUESTRIAN
Steffen Peters (San Diego, Calif.) went six-for-six at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions in Gladstone, N.J. He swept the Intermediaire I on Weltino's Magic to earn a spot on the Pan American Games Team. He followed it up by dominating in the Grand Prix National Dressage Championship on Ravel, scoring 77.660% in the Grand Prix, 80.083% in the Grand Prix Special, and 81.100% in the Freestyle to average 79.247% and win by more than six percentage points.
FIELD HOCKEY Team USA fell short on Sept. 11 in the final match of a five-game series against New Zealand by a score of 5-1 in Chula Vista, Calif. New Zealand won four of the five matches.
MODERN PENTATHLON
Margaux Isaksen (Fayetteville, Ark.) finished 11th at the UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Championships in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 10, while Sam Sacksen (Somerset, Pa.) placed 34th on Sept. 11 in the men's individual final.
PARA-CYCLING
Team USA claimed three gold medals on Sept. 11 at the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Roskilde, Denmark. Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.) successfully defended her 2010 titles in the women's C2 road race and time trial. The tandem team of Karissa Whitsell (Eugene, Ore.) and pilot Lisa Turnbull (Eugene, Ore.) took the gold medal in the women's blind/visually impaired road race, while the team of Matt Updike (Denver, Colo.), Muffy Davis (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Oz Sanchez (San Diego, Calif.) won the gold medal in the mixed handcycle relay.
ROLLER SPORTS
Team USA had an upsetting loss, 26-0, in its first match at the 2011 Sub 20 Rink Hockey World Championships against Italy on Sept. 11 in Barcelos, Portugal. The U.S. played its second match of the tournament against South Africa, falling short by a 12-3 count.
RUGBY
The U.S. came up short in its Rugby World Cup opener against Ireland on Sept. 11, falling to Ireland, 22-10 in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
SHOOTING
2008 Olympic gold medalist Sgt. Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas) topped Vitaly Forkeev of Russia after four targets to claim the bronze medal at the 2011 ISSF World Clay Target Championship in Belgrade, Serbia . Billy Crawford (Johnstown, Ohio) stunned his competition with 147 out of 150 targets for the gold medal junior men's double trap, setting a junior world record and finishing three targets ahead of the silver medalist.
TENNIS
Liezel Huber (Houston, Texas) and Lisa Raymond (Wayne, Penn.) won their first major title together after defeating defending U.S. Open women's doubles champions Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the final. Melanie Oudin (Marietta, Ga.) and Jack Sock (Lincoln, Neb.) topped Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank of Argentina, 7-6(4), 4-6, (10-8) to win their first Grand Slam title. Serena Williams (Compton, Calif.) came up short of the Grand Slam title, as Samantha Stosur of Australia stunned the 13- time Grand Slam champion, 6-2, 6-3.
VOLLEYBALL
The U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball Team captured the 2011 ECVD Continental Cup gold medal on Sept. 10 after defeating Ukraine, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22, in Yevatoriya, Ukraine.
WATER SKI
Katelyn Wendt (Huntington Beach, Calif.) won the first women's lap of competition in the F1 class and Erin Saunders (Huntington Beach, Calif.) finished second at the 17th Water Ski Racing World Championships in Queensland, Australia, on Sept. 12.
UPCOMING CALENDAR
SEPTEMBER
12-18 - Wrestling Istanbul, Turkey World Wrestling Championships
14-18 - Figure Skating Gdansk, Poland Junior Grand Prix Poland
15-17 - Cycling Indianapolis, Ind. USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships
15-18 - Equestrian Saugerties, N.Y. USEF National Para Dressage Championships CPEDI3*
16-18 - Tennis Belgrade, Serbia Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Semi Finals
16 - Track & Field Brussels, Belgium Belgacom Memorial Van Damme DL
16-18 - Volleyball Rosarita, Mexico NORCECA Beach Circuit
17 - Cycling Bend, Ore. USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships
17-18 - Field Hockey Chula Vista, Calif. USA Men vs. Australia Development
17 - Skeleton Lake Placid, N.Y. U.S. National Skeleton Push Championships
17 - Soccer Kansas City, Kan. U.S. WNT vs. Canada
17 - Track & Field Cleveland, Ohio USA 24 Hour Championships
17-18 - Volleyball Miami, Fla. Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Series- Miami Beach
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