June 5, 2008

As the USA Water Polo national teams move closer and closer to a trip to Beijing, so, too, do a number of USC men's and women's water polo players. Six USC women and one USC man are currently in line for potential spots on the U.S. Olympic Team rosters. On the women's side, USC has five graduates - Patty Cardenas, Erika Figge, Brittany Hayes, Lauren Wenger and Moriah Van Norman - along with junior Kami Craig currently in the 14-player training group for a place at the Games in Beijing. The U.S. men recently trimmed their training roster from 24 to 18, holding onto USC junior J.W. Krumpholz. The respective U.S. head coaches are scheduled to announce their final 13-player Olympic rosters on June 30.

All seven Trojans would be making their first trip to the Olympic Games, but all have played important roles at the Senior National Team level in recent years. U.S. men's head coach Terry Schroeder called Krumpholz back in to train following the Trojan's sophomore season at Troy. USC also had recent grad Juan Delgadillo and current junior Matt Sagehorn on that 24-player U.S. training roster before the trim to 18 was made.

Since finishing their USC playing careers, Cardenas, Figge, Hayes, Wenger and Van Norman have been training full-time with the U.S. women's national team. Craig, who has two years of eligibility left at USC, was invited to join in the Olympic push by U.S. women's head coach Guy Baker, and opted to take time off from USC for the 2008 season in order to train full-time.

Meanwhile, several other Trojans have been named to the Men's Senior National Team "B" roster for summer training. Recent USC grad Thomas Hale is joined by juniors Justin Rappel and Nico Sardo and incoming freshman Peter Kurzeka.

Stay tuned for the Trojans' Olympic pursuits! Check back to usctrojans.com for updates, or visit usawaterpolo.org.