Michelle Kwan Named USOC Female Athlete of the Month

Michelle Kwan with her gold medal at the 2004 State Farm U.S. Championships Photo by Paul Harvath

(2/13/04) — The U.S. Olympic Committee today named figure skater Michelle Kwan and swimmer Ed Moses the January Athletes of the Month. The USOC Team of the Month honor was awarded to the U.S. Men's National Junior Hockey Team.

It was the second USOC honor over the last week for Kwan. She was also named as a nominee for the 2003 USOC SportsWoman of the Year award.

Kwan (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) claimed her seventh straight and eighth career U.S. title at the 2004 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Atlanta, Ga., on Jan. 10. She earned seven of a possible nine perfect 6.0 marks for presentation in the free skate. With her win, Kwan has qualified to compete at the 2004 World Figure Skating Championships, March 22-29, in Dortmund, Germany.

Moses (Burke, Va.) went undefeated in the month of January, racking up 12 wins on the World Cup circuit and taking down the 200m breaststroke world record in the process. He won 12 races at four different meets; Stockholm, Jan. 13-14; Berlin, Jan. 17-18; Moscow, Jan. 21-22; New York, Jan. 30-31. Moses' 200m breaststroke time of 2:02.92 (Berlin meet) gave him his 11th-career world record.

The U.S. National Junior Team made history by capturing the gold medal for the first time in the 28-year history of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship. Team USA registered a perfect 6-0 record in the tournament that featured the world's best under-20 players. The U.S. defeated 10-time champion Canada, 4-3, in the gold-medal game to earn its first podium finish at the tournament since 1997. The U.S. scored 27 goals in six games during the event that was held in Hameenlina and Helsinki, Finland. Team USA also notched victories over two-time defending champion Russia, Austria, Slovakia, Sweden and Finland.

Fencing star Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) was the runner-up in the women's balloting. Zagunis became the first U.S. fencer ever to win the title of World Cup champion three years in a row. With a gold medal at a World Cup in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and a seventh-place finish in Goppingen, Germany, Zagunus clinched her third Junior World Cup Championship in as many years. She has been a World Juniors Champion for three of the six years that the Junior Women's Sabre title has been contested.

Third in the women's voting was speedskater Jennifer Rodriquez (Miami, Fla.). Rodriquez, who claimed the Athlete of the Month title for November and December, was the only female U.S. skater to medal at the World Sprint Championships, Jan. 17-18 in Nagano, Japan. She captured two silver medals on back-to-back days in the 1000-meters en route to the overall bronze medal, marking the first overall world championship medal of her career.

U.S. Men's National Junior Hockey Team and University of North Dakota standout Zach Parise (Faribault, Minn.) placed second in the men's category. He earned tournament MVP honors at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland leading Team USA to its first gold-medal finish in the 28-year history of the event. He tied for the tournament lead in scoring with 11 points (five goals, six assists) and in assists (six), and tied for second in goals (five). Parise also led the U.S. squad in plus/minus ranking (+7). He was named to the All-Tournament Team by the media and received the Best Forward Award from the IIHF Directorate.

The USA Men's National Volleyball Team is Athens-bound thanks in part to middle blocker Ryan Millar (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who finished third in the men's voting. He led the U.S. in scoring as it won the gold medal at the 2004 NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Jan. 4-10. A 2000 Olympian, Millar scored 59 points in six matches as Team USA finished the tournament a perfect 6-0. He also was second on the team in blocks (nine) and hitting percentage (.486). In the championship match, Millar had 14 points on 11 kills, two blocks and one service ace and posted a match-high hitting percentage of .846 (11 kills, zero errors, 13 attempts).

In second place among Team of the Month candidates was the U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team. The squad is heading to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens after winning the gold medal at the 2004 NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Jan. 4-10. Team USA came back from a 2-1 deficit after three sets to defeat Cuba in the championship match, 3-1 (21-15, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13). The Americans defeated Mexico, Cuba (twice), Canada (twice), and Puerto Rico to finish the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record and lost just three sets along the way. The U.S. qualified for its sixth-straight Olympics Games.

Finishing in third place for January was the U.S. Men's Bobsled Team. The team captured a fifth-place finish in the two-man competition and a bronze medal in the four-man race in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Team USA won a bronze medal in the four-man race in Cortina, Italy, to go along with a sixth-place finish in the first four-man race, which was a make-up event from one cancelled during the first half of the season. The team also claimed a seventh-place finish in the two-man competition.

Results (first place votes in parentheses)

WOMEN
1. Michele Kwan 46 (11)
2. Mariel Zagunis 28 (4)
3. Jennifer Rodriquez 22 (2)
Also receiving first place votes: Nia Abdallah, Taekwondo; Sara McMann, Wrestling; Shannon Pulhowsky, Bowling; Kimiko Hirai Soldati, Diving; Hannah Teter, Snowboarding

MEN
1. Ed Moses 41 (11)
2. Zach Parise 29 (4)
3. Ryan Millar 17 (3)
Also receiving first place votes: Tony Azevedo, Water Polo; Richard Fairley Jr., Bowling; Todd Hays, Bobsled; Bode Miller, Skiing; Johnny Weir, Figure Skating

TEAM
1. U.S. Men's National Junior Hockey Team 59 (17)
2. U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team 52 (6)
3. U.S. Men's Bobsled Team 27 (1)
Also receiving first place votes: n/a

Source: U.S. Olympic Committee