June 17, 2011

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Five members of the 2010 NCAA and ACC champion Maryland field hockey team will play in USA Field Hockey's Junior High Performance championships beginning Saturday in Virginia Beach, Va.

Kirstie Dennig, Natalie Hunter, Christine Knauss, Janessa Pope and Tara Zollinger will all play in the week-long tournament. Dennig, Hunter and Knauss will play on the Mid Atlantic team, while Pope and Zollinger will compete for the Pennsylvania team.

Pope and Zollinger both played on the Pennsylvania team in last summer's championships as well. Their team won the tournament.

Six teams made up of the nation's top 108 players under the age of 20 will compete in the junior national championships. The event will be a round-robin tournament featuring the top athletes from USA Field Hockey's Junior High Performance Centers.

"High Performance is a competitive and fun program that helps prepare us for the season by giving us the opportunity to improve our own individual skills while giving us the opportunity to play with different high level players from other schools," Zollinger said. "The tournament gives us high level training that helps us improve our technical skills and gives us great competition."

Athletes participating in this tournament will have the opportunity to be selected to attend 2011 Junior National Camp at Old Dominion University from July 12-15. The Junior National Camp serves as a selection opportunity on to the USA Women's U-21, U-19, and U-17 National Squads.

"Because many members of our team have the desire to take time out of their summer vacation to play HP, it shows you how much work we are willing to put towards achieving excellence and how much heart our team has," Hunter said.

For more information on the Junior Women's National Championship, please log on to USAFieldHockey.com.

Junior Women's National Championship Schedule
Saturday, June 18