| Saturday June 24, 2000 Canadian women's
Olympic softball team named
BRAMPTON, Ont. (CP) - Hayley Wickenheiser will get her
chance to become the first Canadian woman to win a medal at both the Winter and Summer
Olympics. The Shaunavon, Sask., native, who won a silver medal in hockey at the 1998
Nagano Winter Games, was named to the women's Olympic softball team on Sunday.
Head coach Ron Clarke had been carrying 17 players, two
above the Olympic limit, on his roster through this weekend's Three Nations Challenge.
Christine Parris-Washington of Toronto and Carmie Vairo of Vancouver were cut from the
team on Sunday. Clarke had cut Parris-Washington and Vairo when he first named his squad
in March, but the pair appealed his decision and were reinstated by Softball Canada.
Wickenheiser will be just the second Canadian woman to
participate in both the Summer and Winter Games. Sue Holloway competed in the 1976
Olympics in cross-country skiing and in the '94 Games in kayaking. She won bronze and
silver medals in '94.
Wickenheiser, an outfielder, had been on the bubble before
the cuts, but she has had a good run with the team this spring.
Canada lost 5-0 to Australia in the final of the Three
Nations Challenge on Saturday night, an Olympic tune-up that also featured New Zealand. It
was an improvement for Canada, the fifth-ranked team heading into Sydney, after going 0-8
at a tournament in Australia two months ago.
"Our goal for this team is to reach the gold-medal
game (at the Olympics), which we all feel is reachable," said Clarke.
Vicky Bastarache of Cocagne, N.B., and Winnipeg sisters
Heather and Sandy Newsham will make up Canada's pitching squad.
Canada will play New Zealand in Saskatoon Monday before
heading to the Canada Cup in Surrey, B.C., which runs from July 1 to 9. It will be the
first international tournament in which Canada will compete with its 15-member Olympic
Roster.
The members of the 2000 National Softball Team are:
Lesley Attwell Catcher Coquitlam, BC
Vicky Bastarache Pitcher Cocagne, NB
Denise Carriere Outfield Bramalea, ON
Natalie Fradette 3rd base Boucherville, PQ
Cherene Hiesl-Boyer Outfield Newmarket, ON
Jackie Lance 2nd base/Short Stop Richmond, BC
Heather Newsham DH/Pitcher Winnipeg, MB
Sandy Newsham DH/Pitcher Winnipeg, MB
Jacki Nichol Short Stop Saskatoon, SK
Kristy Odamura 2nd base Richmond, BC
Colleen Thorburn-Smith Catcher/Outfield Unionville, ON
Sommer West 1st base Bowmanville, ON
Meaggan Wilton Outfield Blenheim, ON
Hayley Wickenheiser Outfield/Utility Calgary, AB
Erin Woods 1st base/Catcher/Outfield Richmond, BC
Team Staff:
Assistant Coach Brenda Staniforth, Cochrane, AB
Assistant Coach Cathy Fertile, Oshawa, ON
Team Leader Evelyne Holenski, Winnipeg, MB
Athletic Therapist Tracy Meloche, EssexHead Coach Ron Clarke, Halifax, NS
Assistant Coach Mike Renney, Surrey, BC, ON
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