Enea, Scaglione Receive USA Invites

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States and USA Softball announced Tuesday afternoon the 32 initial athletes invited to participate in the 2005 Women's National Team Selection Camp, June 13-17, at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. Among the 32 athletes were Oklahoma softball seniors Heather Scaglione and Christina Enea.

The invitation marks Scaglione's second selection camp invitation. She attended the USA Selection Camp in Chula Vista, along with Kami Keiter and Norrelle Dickson, this past January. Scaglione was an intregal member of the USA Elite Team that won the gold medal at the First World University Softball Championships last summer.

It also marks the second invitation for Enea, who attended a USA tryout in October, 2002, following her freshman season when she earned First Team All-America honors. Enea and Scaglione are among the 11 collegiate athletes that were invited. OU and Arizona are the only schools that had two current players invited.

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“We are excited to get the 2005 season rolling,” said Director of National Teams Ronnie Isham. “After our success in Athens, we must continue to put the best players and coaches on the field to remain at the top of the game and aim for USA Softball's fourth consecutive gold medal in Beijing 2008.”

An 18-member national team and 16-member elite team will be selected from this camp to represent the United States in the various international events in 2005. The National team will participate in an exhibition versus Australia on July 12 in Irvine, Calif., the World Cup of Softball July 14-18 in Oklahoma City, and the Japan Cup July 16- August 5 in Yokohama, Japan. The Elite team will participate in the Canada Cup June 29-July 11 in Surrey, B.C., and the Inter-Continental Spain Cup July 20-July 28 in Madrid, Spain.

The 2005 coaching assignments were also announced today selecting coaches from the 16-member pool to lead the Red, White and Blue this season. Selected by the Women's National Team Selection Committee, a head coach and three assistants were assigned to every major international event in 2005.

Below is the complete list of invitees, in order by state of origin:

ARIZONA
Tairia Flowers (Tucson, AZ, UCLA)

CALIFORNIA
Monica Abbott (Salinas, CA, Tennessee*)
Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, CA, Fresno State)
Katie Burkhart (San Luis Obispo, CA, Arizona State*)
Jaime Clark (Tustin, CA, Washington)
Christina Enea (Woodland Hills, CA, Oklahoma)
Lisa Fernandez (Long Beach, CA, UCLA)
Jennie Finch (La Mirada, CA, Arizona)
Amanda Freed (Cypress, CA, UCLA)
Vicky Galindo (Union City, CA, California-Berkeley)
Nicole Giordano (Saugus, CA, Arizona)
Tiffany Haas (Santa Ana, CA, Michigan*)
Alicia Hollowell (Suisun, CA, Arizona*)
Lovieanne Jung (Fountain Valley, CA, Arizona)
Lauren Lappin (Anaheim, CA, Stanford*)
Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, CA, Arizona*)
Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA, Stanford)
Aimee Minor (San Jacinto, CA, Washington*)
Marissa Nichols (Diamond Bar, CA, UNLV)
Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, CA, UCLA)
Heather Scaglione (San Diego, CA, Oklahoma)
Lindsay Schutzler (Monterey, CA, Tennessee*)
Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA, Stanford)
Jamie Southern (Clovis, CA, Fresno State)
Jenny Topping (Whittier, CA, Cal State Fullerton)
Natasha Watley (Irvine, CA, UCLA)