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Chun is third in voting for USOC Female Athlete of the Month for April

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by USOC

2008 World champion wrestler Clarissa Chun (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist) took third in the women's voting for the U.S. Olympic Committee's Athlete of the Month for April.

Chun captured her second career U.S. Nationals freestyle title with an impressive victory at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. at the U.S. Women's National Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., April 9. She was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. She did not allow a single point in four matches.

Chun defeated 2005 U.S. Nationals champion Sara Fulp-Allen of the New York AC in the finals, 3-0, 1-0. She opened with a 5-0, 2-0 win over Victoria Anthony, then defeated 2006 Junior World champion Nicole Woody of OCU, 1-0, 2-0. In the semifinals, Chun defeated Joey Miller of OCU, 3-0, 6-0.

Chun also added a gold medal at Pan American Championships in Maracaibo, Venezuela, April 24. Chun was one of three U.S. individual gold medalists, and helped lead the United States to the team victory in women's wrestling.

Chun pinned Canada's Lindsay Rushton in the finals in the second period. She also scored a pin over Katiuska Toasa of Ecuador in the first match, then defeated Carolina Castillo of Colombia in the semifinals by decision.

Caitlin Cahow from Ice Hockey won the April Athlete of the Month voting, followed by Anna Tunnicliffe of Sailing in second.

OFFICIAL USOC PRESS RELEASE

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee announced hockey player Caitlin Cahow and equestrian rider Steffen Peters as its April Athletes of the Month, while the U.S. Women's National Hockey Team was awarded Team of the Month honors.

Cahow (Branford, Conn.) helped the U.S. Women's National Team capture its second straight International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship gold medal. She played both forward and defense and anchored the U.S. power play and penalty kill during a 4-0-0-1 run to the title. Cahow scored six points (two goals, four assists) in five games, including two goals in the gold-medal game against rival Canada. She scored the first goal :24 into the contest and was named the U.S. Player of the Game in the 4-1 championship victory. Cahow, 23, was part of the bronze-medal winning U.S. Olympic Team in 2006.

A 2008 Olympian, Peters (San Diego, Calif.) achieved an unprecedented feat in April, becoming the first U.S. rider to win both legs of the Rolex/FEI World Cup Dressage Final. Riding Ravel, he put up the highest score of his career to make a huge impact for the U.S. in a sport that has been dominated by Western European nations for decades. In doing so, Peters topped two of the three medalists that finished ahead of him at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Paced by Cahow, the U.S. Women's National Team defended its World Championship title for the first time and topped rival Canada in the gold-medal game on April 12 in Hameenlinna, Finland. With the championship, the U.S. moved up to No. 1 in the world rankings for the first time since the system was introduced in 2004. The team outscored opponents 28-3 in dominating the tournament. The U.S. women also won Team of the Month honors after taking the World Championship in April 2008.

Finishing second in the Female Athlete of the Month voting was sailor Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), who continued her impressive season with another gold medal at a major international regatta in the Laser Radial discipline. Her latest triumph came in Hyeres, France, the site of the French Olympic Sailing Week from April 18-24 and the fourth event on the ISAF Sailing World Cup calendar. Tunnicliffe, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist, has won three of four World Cup events this season and continues to lead the World Cup rankings by a healthy margin.

2008 World champion wrestler Clarissa Chun (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took third in the women's voting after picking up two major championships in April. First, she captured her second National championship with a victory in the 49 kg/105.5 lbs division at the U.S. Women's National Championships in Las Vegas on April 9. She was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament and did not allow a point in four matches. Two weeks later, Chun won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships.

Coming in second in the men's voting was hockey player Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.), the goalie for the U.S. Men's Under-18 National Team that won the World Championship in April. Campbell shut out Russia in the gold-medal game and was named to the All-Tournament Team. He posted a 4-0 record, a 0.75 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage with two shutouts. He allowed three goals for the tournament.

Shooter Keith Sanderson (San Antonio) came in third for the men. The 2008 Olympian claimed the gold medal in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation Rifle/Pistol World Cup in Beijing, China, on April 22. A week earlier, he won the silver medal in the Men's Rapid Fire at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea. With the two podium finishes, Sanderson tripled his career World Cup medal count.

Second place in the team vote went to the ISU World Team Trophy U.S. Figure Skating Team, which took home gold from the inaugural event in Tokyo, Japan, from April 16-19. The U.S. scored 60 points to edge Canada (54 points) and Japan (50 points). Team USA included Evan Lysacek (men's winner), Jeremy Abbott (men, fifth), Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (ice dance winners), Caroline Zhang (ladies, third), Rachael Flatt (ladies, fourth) and Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett (pairs, fourth).

Coming in third was the U.S. Fed Cup Tennis Team. The squad comprised of Melanie Oudin (Marietta, Ga.), Alexa Glatch (Newport Beach, Calif.), Bethanie Mattek-Sands (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Liezel Huber (Houston) advanced to the Fed Cup Finals for the first time since 2003 by defeating host Czech Republic, 3-2, in the semifinals April 25-26. With the win, the U.S. will play Italy in the Fed Cup Final in November.

Results:

Women
1. Caitlin Cahow, Ice Hockey
2. Anna Tunnicliffe, Sailing
3. Clarissa Chun, Wrestling

Men
1. Steffen Peters, Equestrian
2. Jack Campbell, Ice Hockey
3. Keith Sanderson, Shooting

Team
1. U.S. Women's National Team, Ice Hockey
2. ISU World Team Trophy Team, Figure Skating
3. U.S. Fed Cup Team, Tennis

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