COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The U.S. Olympic Committee announced USA Track & Field's Jenn Stuczynski and USA Cycling's Steven Cisar as its May Athletes of the Month, while the USA Men's Senior National Water Polo Team was awarded Team of the Month honors.
The third woman ever to clear the 16-foot barrier in the pole vault and a two-time USA Outdoor champion, Stuczynski, became the No. 2 performer all-time in that event Sunday, May 18 at the 2008 adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The 2008 World Indoor silver medalist, cleared 4.90 meters/16 feet .75 inch in bettering her own American record of 4.88m/16 feet set on June 2, 2007 in New York City. Only Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia has soared higher in the history of the event. For her efforts, Stuczynski was named The Team USA Athlete of the Meet, presented by Visa. Later that week, she was also named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week.
Cisar (Altadena, Calif.) earned a silver medal for the USA Cycling Team in the elite men's contest at the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships on May 31. As one of two Americans to qualify for the final eight-man main, Cisar finished just 0.384 seconds off the winner Maris Strombergs of Latvia, while Stifiso Nhlapo of South Africa took the bronze and American Donny Robinson (Napa, Calif.) placed fourth.
Cisar is possibly the best American BMX rider that nobody's heard of. Often times overshadowed by the depth of the talent pool in the United States, he has consistently posted solid results on the domestic circuit before breaking through at the international level. By finishing in the top-5 in the U.S. rankings, Cisar earned an automatic bid to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, June 14 at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.
The USA Men's Senior National Team turned in a perfect record at their recent America's Cup in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Using a split squad, the team garnered four victories over Team Canada, a team qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games. The performance was followed by the defeat of then No. 1 team in the world, Croatia 8-5, by the Americans in front of a sellout crowd in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Team USA was able to battle back from a 3-1 deficit at halftime to come away with a momentous victory over what is considered one of the elite teams in the world headed into the 2008 Olympic Games. Tony Azevedo tallied three goals, while Ryan Bailey scored two, and Jeff Powers, John Mann and Jesse Smith each struck once.
