August 2, 2010
Local players named to women's national team
by PR Wire Report/
Jenn Russell (North Andover, Mass.) is one of several New Englanders named to the U.S. senior women's lacrosse national team. (photo: UNC Athletic Communications)
U.S. Lacrosse has announced the roster for the 2010-11 U.S. senior women’s national lacrosse team after three days of tryouts at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, July 30-Aug. 1.
The 36 players selected by the coaching staff will train for the 2013 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Cup.
U.S. Lacrosse’s selection committee with head coach Ricky Fried and his staff named the following players with New England connections to the U.S. senior women’s national team: Sarah Albrecht (Braintree, Mass.), Sarah Bullard (Needham, Mass.), Katy Fitzgerald (North Andover, Mass.), Kristin Igoe (Framingham, Mass./Boston College), Kristen Kjellman (Westwood, Mass.), Colleen Olsen (Avon, Conn./Dartmouth), Jennifer Russell (Andover, Mass.), Paris Waterman (Brown) and Devon Wills (Dartmouth).
“This was the most competitive tryout I've ever been a part of,” said Fried. “We think that this is the best team of 36 players for the style and tempo we want to play. This group will comprise the core of the team which will defend the gold medal in 2013.”
“Watching tryouts is a truly inspiring experience,” said Nathaniel Badder, director of the U.S. national lacrosse teams program. “Our heartfelt thanks go out to all who participated. These players were so impressive and really made the job of the selectors difficult. They all played so hard on the field and carried themselves so well off of it. It's going to be exciting to watch them come together in the months and years ahead."
In addition to quadrennial world cup play, the U.S. team program competes on an annual basis with tryouts held each summer. Among the annual activities are participation in the U.S. Lacrosse Champion Challenge each January, the U.S. Lacrosse Stars & Stripes Weekend each October and a series of U.S. National Team Clinics at various locations around the country to teach youth and high school players about the sport and the national team program.
Fried, an assistant coach on the 2009 U.S. world championship team and the head coach at Georgetown University, is the current head coach for the U.S. women's team. He is assisted by Amy Bokker (Stanford), Liz Robertshaw (Boston University) and Jess Wilk Strosberg (four-time Team USA goalie). Carol Cantele (Gettysburg) serves as head coach for the U.S. developmental team and is assisted by Michele DeJuliis (Princeton) and Bowen Holden (Boston College).
The location and dates of the 2013 FIL World Championship have not yet been announced by the Federation of International Lacrosse. In 2009, Team USA won the gold at the quadrennial event, beating Australia 8-7 in Prague, Czech Republic. The U.S. women's senior team has won either gold or silver in all seven world championships conducted since 1986.
