Five Women of Troy Set For First Olympic Games
June 30, 2008 | Women's Water Polo
June 30, 2008
Video on Trojan TV All Access
Five Trojans Named To U.S.A. Olympic Team 
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LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - Almost half of the U.S. women's water polo Olympic team will be Trojans in Beijing this summer, as five current and former Women of Troy have been named to the 13-player roster for the 2008 Olympic Games. For current USC player Kami Craig and former standouts Patty Cardenas, Brittany Hayes, Moriah Van Norman and Lauren Wenger, the Olympic experience marks a dream come true. This will be the first Olympic Games for all five USC athletes, but they all share a hefty amount of international experience on their way into Beijing.
The U.S. Olympic Team roster was announced on Monday morning by women's head coach Guy Baker at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. USC also has tallied its first USA water polo Olympian since 2000 on the men's side with the addition of junior J.W. Krumpholz on the U.S. Men's Olympic Team, as announced today by U.S. men's head coach Terry Schroeder.
Since finishing their USC playing careers, Cardenas (Commerce, Calif), Hayes (Santa Ana, Calif.), Wenger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Van Norman (San Diego, Calif.) have been training full-time with the U.S. women's national team. Craig (Camarillo, Calif.), 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. Former Cutino Award-winning USC goalie and 2000 U.S. Olympic silver-medalist Bernice Orwig rounds out the Trojan presence for the U.S. women as an assistant coach for Team USA. Not since Orwig was on the U.S. Olympic roster in 2000 have there been any Trojans on the U.S. Olympic Team.
Three members of USC's 2004 NCAA Championship team - 2007 senior Brittany Hayes and 2006 grads Moriah Van Norman and Lauren Wenger - are joined by 2007 senior Patty Cardenas and junior-to-be Kami Craig as the Trojan representation on the squad.
"It's awesome," Craig said of the group's transition from USC teammates to Olympian status. "To go from one team to the next together and still have the majority of the girls you started with in the first place, that camaraderie we built on the USC team carries over to the national team. It's a special feeling. It feels like we went through the whole process together."
Craig and Van Norman are Team USA's main centers, taking on arguably the most physical position in the game. Wenger is tabbed as an all-around player, relied upon to transition through various roles in the water including her share of time in that two-meter spot on the defensive end. Cardenas and Hayes do the bulk of their work as attackers - called upon for their speed and strength on the perimeter.
Those roles are similar to their duties while at USC, where the group was united altogether for a year in 2006 when Craig was a freshman; Cardenas, Figge and Hayes were juniors; and Van Norman and Wenger were seniors leading the Women of Troy through an undefeated regular season and on to a second-place finish in the NCAA Tournament.
The United States women have medaled in six of the eight major international competitions in the past eight years, most recently claiming that No. 1 ranking with a gold-medal finish at the 2007 World Championships. Since women's water polo was entered in the Olympic Games, the USA has won silver (Sydney 2000) and bronze (Athens 2004).
"We have 10 first-time Olympians going to Beijing, so it almost has the feel of going to Sydney for the first time." U.S. head coach Guy Baker said. "It's a tremendously big deal to be an Olympian. I think we have a certain colored medal we need to complete the set."
2006 Peter J. Cutino Award winner Wenger was named the MVP of the 2007 World Championships when the U.S. won gold. Cardenas, Craig, Hayes and Van Norman also were members of that world champion team. Van Norman was the recipient of the Cutino award in 2004 as a sophomore at USC and joined Wenger as mainstays on the U.S. National Team soon after finishing their USC careers in 2006. They also won silver at the 2005 World Championships with Team USA. While Cardenas is a relative newcomer to the national team system - having been named to the U.S. National Team in 2006 after participating open tryouts for the team - she has since won a world championship in 2007. Craig has pulled double duty for the USA in recent years, also highlighting the U.S Junior National Team roster.
"For the first-time Olympians, we're making our mark on this Olympics and we have our own goals," Van Norman said. "There's a lot of Trojan pride, and other countries have a ton of USC alumni as well. I'm just honored to be able to say I'm representing America and USC at the same time."
All five athletes made a serious mark on the USC history books during their playing careers. Cardenas joined the USC roster as a junior, pinning up 72 goals in two seasons as a Trojan and is a two-time All-American and 2007 All-MPSF Second Team selection. Van Norman and Hayes are four-time All-Americans and four-time All-MPSF selections, and Wenger is a three-time All-American and was twice selection to All-MPSF teams. Named the Cutino Award winner in 2004, Van Norman stands as USC's No. 3 all-time scoring leader with 215 career goals. Two steps below her is Hayes at No. 5 with 209. And ranking No. 9 all-time in career scoring is 2006 Cutino Award winner Wenger with 127 goals. Two-time All-American and All-MPSF pick Craig, who has accumulated 76 goals as a Trojan, has two more years at Troy to join her Olympic teammates on that all-time scoring chart.
Former Trojan Erika Figge - who finished her USC playing career in 2007 as a finalist for the Cutino Award and ranks No. 8 all-time at USC with 137 career goals - has been named the alternate for the Olympic Team.
CLICK HERE for the U.S. Water Polo Olympic Team release and rosters.
