Dickson Named To USA Elite Softball Team

NORMAN, Okla. Oklahoma freshman infielder Norrelle Dickson was named to the 2004 Women's National Elite Softball Team along with 13 other collegiate players over the weekend. Dickson competed with the 2003 Women's Junior World Championship team that took home the silver in Nanjing, China, last October. The Elite Squad is considered the highest national team besides the Olympic squad.

“For a freshman and a young athlete, this is a great honor,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “If she continues to work hard it is a realistic goal that she can be one of 15 women in the United States on the Olympic team. Every athlete dreams of playing in the Olympics and that is a tangible goal for her. It is a very exciting time in her life.”

The team was chosen from the USA Softball player pool and will represent the U.S. in the 2004 Canada Cup, U.S. Champions Cup and other events to be scheduled.

Leading the 2004 USA Softball Elite team will be head coach Jay Miller (Starkville, MS, head coach at Mississippi State). He will be assisted by Michelle Gromacki (Huntington Beach, CA, head coach at Cal State Fullerton) and Kirk Walker (Keizer, CA, head coach at Oregon State).

Eight of the players named were members of the 2003 Junior Women's World Championship team who captured the silver medal in October in Nanjing, China.

As the National Governing Body of Softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting women's, men's, junior girls' and junior boys' National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. USA Softball is one of the only two women's sports to capture back-to-back gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996.

The 2004 USA Softball Elite team roster is as follows:

Monica Abbott (Salinas, CA, currently at Tennessee)
Caitlin Benyi (Scottsdale, AZ, currently at UCLA)
Autumn Champion (Tustin, CA, currently at Arizona)
Christina Clark (Santa Ana, CA, currently at Fresno State)
Norelle Dickson (Orange, CA, currently at Oklahoma)
Lisa Dodd (San Diego, CA, currently at UCLA)
Andrea Duran (Selma, CA, currently at UCLA)
Vicki Galindo (Union City, CA, currently at California)
Alicia Hollowell (Suisan, CA, currently at Arizona)
Jodie Legaspi (Garden Grove, CA, currently at UCLA)
Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, CA, currently at Arizona)
Kristen Rivera (Perris, CA, currently at Washington)
Jamie Southern (Clovis, CA, currently at Fresno State)
Emily Zaplatosch (Scottsdale, AZ, currently at UCLA)

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Dickson Named To USA Elite Softball Team

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