Three Shore Field Hockey Players Make US Jr. Olympic

The hard work for three young and talented field hockey players on the Shore has finally paid off. Holly Grove’s Jerri Lankford and Cape Henlopen’s Alia Marshall and Annie Judge all earned a spot on this years US U16 Junior Olympic team.

It’s a long and difficult road to reach this point for any player. It starts with competing in the Futures program. Players then attempt to qualify for a team at regionals. Delaware, Maryland and Washington DC make up the Region 7 team. Of the 250 girls that tried out, only 20 would make the roster.

All three girls from the Shore were selected.

Once you make it past that round of cuts, you advance to Nationals. There, the nine regional teams compete in a tournament in front of a selection committee for several days. The Region 7 team played well, earning 3rd place. Nearly a week after the tournament is done, the field is trimmed again as the selection committee selects just 128 of the girls that competed to represent the country on the US Junior Olympic team.

Once again, the three Shore stars were selected.

The trio now prepare for the next step, when they head to Houston Texas to compete in the 5 day competition. Just making it this far will likely give the girls valuable exposure to college coaches, as well as a experience they will surely never forget.