Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

The United States Olympic Committee announced Tuesday its Athletes of the Month for July.

And the winners are …

Women – USA Softball shortstop Natasha Watley;

Men — USA Swimming’s Ryan Lochte;

Team — USA Swimming’s men’s 4-by-100 freestyle relay swimmers.

Runner-up in the team category was the USA Basketball men’s under-19 team that won its age-group World Championships. That team included Darius Miller (Mason County H.S., Univ. Kentucky) and Shelvin Mack (Bryan Station H.S., Butler Univ.).

Natasha Watley

For the first time, 10 percent of the vote was determined by followers of the USOC’s Twitter site (@USOlympic). A panel of U.S. Olympic family members accounted for the other 90 percent of the vote.

Watley helped Team USA to gold-medal finishes in the Canada Cup and KFC World Cup of Softball (at Oklahoma City). Starting a team-high 18 games, Watley went 25-for-47 (.702) at the plate, knocking in 20 runs and going 8-for-8 in the stolen-base department. She hit two doubles and two homers, including a grand slam against Canada in the World Cup.

At the FINA World Championships in Rome, Lochte set a world record in winning the 200-meter individual medley and swam on the world-record 800-meter freestyle relay team, as well as the championship-record 400-meter freestyle relay. Lochte also won a bronze medal in the 200-meter backstroke.

The USOC team honor, the men’s 400 free relay, went to Michael Phelps, Lochte, Matt Grevers and Nathan Adrian. Their World Championships time of 3:09.21 edged the Russians by 31 hundredths of a second and beat the favored French team by more than half a second.

The top three in the Athlete of the Month categories:

WOMEN — 1. Natasha Watley; 2. Kelly Rulon, swimming; 3. (tie) Tina Charles, basketball; Rebecca Soni, swimming; Serena Williams, tennis.

MEN — 1. Ryan Lochte; 2. Troy Dumais, diving; 3. Andy Roddick, tennis.

TEAM — 1. U.S. men’s 400-meter freestyle relay swim team; 2. U.S. men’s U-19 basketball team; 3. U.S. women’s senior water polo team.

Lexington native Tyson Gay is among the winners as the U.S. Olympic Committee has announced its Athletes of the Month for May.

Gay, out of Lafayette High School and the University of Arkansas, took men’s honors. The American record-holder at 100 meters, Gay posted the world’s third-fastest 200 meters ever and blew away a world-class field in the Reebok Grand Prix, May 30 at New York.

TYSON GAY, from his photos on Facebook.

In his first 200 in the United States since pulling a hamstring last July at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Gay crossed the finish line in 19.58 seconds. The only faster races recorded are 1996 Olympic gold-medalist Michael Johnson’s world-record 19.32, and 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Usain Bolt’s world-record 19.30.

Earlier in May, Gay lowered his personal best for 400 meters to 45.57 at the Texas Invitational.

Gay will be out to defend his titles in the 100, 200 and as part of the Team USA 4-by-100-meter relay in this summer’s World Outdoor Championships at Berlin.

Other USOC awards for May went to diver Allison Brennan and the National Sled Hockey Team.

Brennan won on the 3-meter springboard in the USA Diving Grand Prix at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Her score of 358.55 points was 18 better than Russia’s Anastasia Pozdniakova, last year’s Olympic silver-medalist. Brennan, an assistant coach at South Carolina, also beat four-time Olympic medalist Wu Minxia of China. Brennan’s final dive, a reverse 1 1/2 somersault with 2 1/2 twists, earned the highest score of the finals, 76.85. 

The Paralympics Sled Hockey Team won the World Championships at Ostrava, Czech Republic. Team captain Andy Yohe scored with 11 seconds left in the championship game to earn a 1-0 victory over Norway. Steve Cash made 11 saves for the Americans.

Others on the team: Mike Blabac, Taylor Chace, Jimmy Connelly, Brad Emmerson, Mike Hallman, Lonnie Hannah, Tim Jones, Taylor Lipsett, Chris Mans, Adam Page, Josh Pauls, Greg Shaw and Kip St. Germaine.

The top three in the USOC monthly award results:

Women — 1. Allison Brennan (diving); 2. Alaina Williams (gymnastics); 3. Lauren Wenger (water polo).
Williams won one international and two national trampoline competitions. Wenger scored three goals in a 10-5 Team USA win over Canada in the World League Super Finals for the Americas.

Men — 1. Tyson Gay (track and field); 2. Steve Cash (sled hockey); 3. Devin Britton (tennis).
Britton, an unseeded freshman, won the NCAA singles title and led Ole Miss to the quarterfinals.

Team — 1. U.S. National Sled Hockey Team; 2. Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen (diving); 3. U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team.
Dumais and Ipsen won the synchronized 3-meter springboard event at the USA Diving Grand Prix, and were selected to dive for the U.S. at this summer’s World Championships in Italy. The gymnatics team won a pair of “friendlies” against Germany and France. Bridget Sloan took all-around honors in both meets.

Hockey player Caitlin Cahow, equestrian rider Steffen Peters and the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team were named Thursday as winner of the Athletes and Team of the Month for April, as determined by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Cahow, from Branford, Conn., split time at forward and defense while helping Team USA to its second straight title in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. She anchored the U.S. power-play and penalty-kill units, netting two goals and four assists over five games. Included were two goals in the 4-1 gold-medal game victory over Canada, as Team USA finished 4-0-1. Cahow, 23, was on the bronze-medal U.S. Olympic team in 2006.

Equestrian Steffen Peters aboard Ravel. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Peters, the Male Athlete of the Month, became the first U.S. rider to win both legs of the Rolex/FEI World Cup Dressage Final. The San Diego rider, aboard Ravel, put up the best score of his career to defeat two of the three medalists who finished ahead of him at last summer’s Beijing Olympics.

Results

Women

1. Caitlin Cahow, Ice Hockey

2. Anna Tunnicliffe, Sailing (Gold medal in Laser Radial at Hyeres, France, site of the French Olympic Sailing Week from April 18-24 and the fourth event on the ISAF Sailing World Cup calendar.)

3. Clarissa Chun, Wrestling (Won her second national championship with a victory in the 49 kg/105.5 lbs. division at the U.S. Women’s National Championships in Las Vegas on April 9; named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament and did not allow a point in four matches. Two weeks later, Chun won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships.)

Men

1. Steffen Peters, Equestrian

2. Jack Campbell, Ice Hockey (All-tournament tam goalie for the U.S. Men’s Under-18 National Team that won the World Championships, shutting out Russia in the gold-medal game. Finished with a 4-0 record, a 0.75 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage with two shutouts.)

3. Keith Sanderson, Shooting (Gold-medal iwinner n the 25-meter Rapid Fire Pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation Rifle/Pistol World Cup in Beijing on April 22. A week earlier, won the silver medal in the Men’s Rapid Fire at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea.)

Team

1. U.S. Women’s National Team, Ice Hockey

2. ISU World Team Trophy Team, Figure Skating (Struck gold inthe inaugural event at Tokyo, scoring 60 points to edge Canada (54) and Japan (50). Team USA: Evan Lysacek (men’s winner), Jeremy Abbott (men, fifth), Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (ice dance winners), Caroline Zhang (ladies, third), Rachael Flatt (ladies, fourth) and Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett (pairs, fourth).)

3. U.S. Fed Cup Team, Tennis (Squad of Melanie Oudin, Alexa Glatch, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber advanced to the Fed Cup Finals for the first time since 2003 by defeating host Czech Republic, 3-2, in the semifinals April 25-26. The U.S. will play Italy in the Fed Cup Final in November.

Jeremy Abbott

Figure skater Jeremy Abbott, tennis player Serena Williams and the Women’s National Under-18 Hockey Team were named Tuesday as Athletes and Team of the Month for January by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Abbott won the U.S. Figure Skating Championship by beating, among others, two-time champ Evan Lysacek and three-time winner Johnny Weir. At 23, Abbott is the oldest first-time national champion since Rudy Galindo in 1996. The win also give Abbott a spot in next month’s World Championships.

Williams swept the singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open, going 10-1 for the month. She won the Aussie singles title by defeating Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3, a day after teaming with sister Venus to take the doubles crown. Serena, regaining the No. 1 singles ranking, now has 10 major singles titles and eight majors in doubles.

U18 Team USA

The under-18 hockey squad won the International Ice Hockey Federation World Women’s U18 Championship for the second year in a row. Team USA finished 5-0, outscoring opponents 58-4. Included was an 18-0 semifinals victory over the Czech Republic, followed by a 3-2 overtime victory of Canada in the finals. Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.), who scored the game winner against Canada, led tournament goal-scorers with eight.

Her teammates: Brittany Ammerman of New Jersey; Blake Bolden of Ohio; Corinne Boyles and Megan Bozek of Illinois; Kate Brock, Jillian Dempsey and Jackie Young of Massachusetts; Caroline Campbell of Missouri; Brianna Decker, Alex Kelter, Jamie Kenyon, Amanda Kessel and Alex Rigsby of Wisconsin; Lindsey Fry of Arizona; Alex Nelson of Minnesota; Meagan Mangene of New York; Amanda Pelkey of Vermont, and Madison Packer and Taylor Wasylk of Michigan.

Results

Men — 1. Jeremy Abbott, figure skating; 2. Steve Mocco, wrestling; 3. Tyler Walker, Paralympic skiing.

Women — 1. Serena Williams, tennis; 2. Lindsey Vonn, Alpine skiing; 3. Alissa Czisny, figure skating.

Team — 1. U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Hockey Team; 2. Bob/Mike Bryan, tennis; 3. Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker, figure skating

U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team (Photo by FIVB)

When the United States Olympic Committee named its SportsMan, SportWoman, Paralympian and Team of the Year on Thursday, some of the drama was missing.

Thanks, Michael Phelps, for making SportsMan of the Year a foregone conclusion. Just as he was in Beijing’s Water Cube, Phelps was unbeatable.

Thursday’s other winners weren’t shabby, either, chosen for excellence in and away from sports.

Swimmer Natalie Coughlin and gymnast Nastia Liukin are co-winners of SportsWoman of the Year.

Swimmer Erin Popovich is Paralympian of the Year.

And the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball squad is Team of the Year.

U.S. Swimming's tribute to its award winners.

Phelps set an Olympic record by going 8-for-8 at Beijing, setting seven world records, as well as American and Olympic records in all eight events. The eight golds brought his career total to 16 Olympic medals (14 gold), a record for a male Olympian. He also was USOC SportsMan of the Year in 2004.

Earlier, Phelps set two world, American and U.S. Open records at the U.S. Olympic Trials.  

Nastia Liukin (U.S. Gymnastics)

Liukin won five medals at Beijing, where she became the third American to win Olympic gold in the women’s all-around. Five medals at one Olympics ties the U.S. gymnastics record set by Mary Lou Retton at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and match by Shannon Miller in 1992 at Barcelona.

Besides a gold, Liukin took silvers on balance beam, uneven bars and in team competition, with a bronze in floor exercise.

Coughlin became the first American woman in any sport to win six medals at one Olympiad. Along the way, she set five American records and one Olympic record, increasing her career total to 11 Olympic medals.

At Beijing, Coughlin won the 100-meter backstroke, took second as part of the 400 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay, and third in the 200 individual medley, 100 freestyle and on the 800 freestyle relay.

Popovich, who also won USOC Paralympian of the Year in 2004, earned four gold medals and two silvers at Beijing. She won the 100-meter freestyle (S7), 400 free (S7), 100 breaststroke (SB7) and 200 individual medley (SM7), and placed second in the (S7) 50 butterfly and 50 free. Her Paralympics medal career total is 14 golds and five silvers.

The men’s volleyball team (Lloy Ball, Gabe Gardner, Kevin Hansen, Tom Hoff, Rich Lambourne, David Lee, Ryan Miller, Reid Priddy, Sean Rooney, Riley Salmon, Clay Stanley and Scott Touzinsky) had an undefeated run en route to winning gold at Beijing, although ranked No. 3 heading into the Games. Team USA whipped No. 1 Brazil, No. 2 Russia, No. 4 Bulgaria and No. 5 Serbia. The gold served as an emotional tribute to Todd Bachman, the father-in-law of Coach Hugh McCutcheon, who was murdered while sight-seeing in Beijing shortly after the Games opened.

Earlier, Team USA qualified for Beijing by winning the NORCECA Continental Qualifier last January in Puerto Rico.