Rutgers in the Olympics

Cappie Pondexter and Team USA Win Gold
8/23/08

Cappie Pondexter RC'06, former Scarlet Knights women's basketball standout, and her United States teammates captured the Olympic gold medal with a 92-65 victory over previously unbeaten Australia on Saturday night in Beijing. For the full news story, click here.

Rutgers Olympians Final Standings
8/23/08

Carli Lloyd RC’06
U.S. Soccer
Gold Medal, Women’s Soccer Final

Cappie Pondexter RC’06
U.S. Basketball
Gold Medal, Women's Basketball Final

Sam Stitt RC’04
U.S. Rowing
5th place, Men's Quadruple Sculls Without Coxswain Final

Renee Hykel
U.S. Rowing
10th place, Women's Double Sculls Lightweight Final

Jonelle Filigno and Karina LeBlanc
Canada Soccer
Lost to Team USA in Game 1 of the Women's Soccer Quarterfinal

Carli Lloyd Scores Game-Winner to Give USA Soccer the Gold
8/21/08

Carli Lloyd

Former Rutgers women’s soccer standout Carli Lloyd RC’06 scored the game-winning goal in the 98th minute of play as Team USA defeated Brazil 1-0 in the Olympic gold medal match on Thursday.

"It was definitely a battle," Lloyd told NBC's Julie Foudy after the match. "I couldn't have done it without any single player on this team. My goal was because of every player and every coach on this team." For the full news story, click here.

 

Alumnus Carries Olympic Torch
8/7/08

Thomas Gorrie RC’67.

Thomas Gorrie RC’67, an adjunct professor at Rutgers Business School and longtime adviser to the Chinese government, carried the Olympic torch through Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on August 6 as part of the relay that preceded the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Gorrie, a Fellow of the US Chamber of Commerce who teaches "The Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Aspects of the Pharmaceutical Industry” at Rutgers Business School, is a longtime adviser to the Chinese government on healthcare and global economic issues. Recently retired from Johnson & Johnson after 35 years with the corporation, where he was Corporate Vice President for Government Affairs and Policy and Corporate Officer, Gorrie was selected by his Johnson & Johnson colleagues in China to represent the company, which is a major partner in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Said Gorrie, a Pennington, New Jersey resident, “It was a great honor and very exciting to carry the torch at the beginning of the relay’s final leg in Beijing in Tiananmen Square, because I was selected by my Chinese associates to represent them and the Beijing Olympic Committee gave me the very prestigious twelfth position."

Going for Gold
8/6/08

Six athletes from the Rutgers community are competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The games take place August 8–24.

Cappie Pondexter RC'06.

Alumni
Carli Lloyd RC'06
Women's Soccer (United States)

Cappie Pondexter RC'06
Women's Basketball (United States)

Sam Stitt RC'04
Men's Rowing (United States)

Current/Incoming Students
Jonelle Filigno
Women's Soccer (Canada)

Renee Hykel
Women's Rowing (United States)

Staff
Karina LeBlanc
Women's Soccer (Canada)


About the Athletes

Carli Lloyd RC'06.

Carli Lloyd RC'06 was named to the U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer roster on June 23. She earned her first invitation to the Women's National Team camp during the summer of 2004, joining Team USA at its Olympic Residency Camp three times. Her first start for the WNT came on March 11, 2006, and she scored her first goal on October 1 against Chinese Taipei. Lloyd played with Team USA in the 2007 Women's World Cup and has 50 caps and 12 goals under her belt.

Cappie Pondexter RC'06 was named to the 2008 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team on May 31. It will be the first Olympic Games for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft. Pondexter helped lead the Mercury to the WNBA Championship last season, earning MVP honors in the 2007 Finals. The Chicago native became just the ninth player in league history to record 500 or more points in each of her first two seasons. Pondexter averaged 17.2 points (8th, WNBA) and four assists (10th, WNBA) per game in her second all-star campaign and tallied 20 or more points in 11 games. In 2006, Pondexter was tabbed a member of the WNBA All Rookie-Team and was runner-up in the Rookie of the Year voting. She finished fourth in the league in scoring (19.5 ppg) and was just the third newcomer in WNBA history to break the 600-point mark. Pondexter finished in the Top 20 in scoring, three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and minutes played.

Sam Stitt RC'04

Sam Stitt RC'04 was named to the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team. Stitt will compete in the men's quadruple sculls in Beijing, an event in which the Americans are favored. Stitt has been on the National Team and raced at the World Championships each of the past three years. This will be his first Olympic Games.

Incoming first-year student Jonelle Filigno of Mississauga, Ontario, will play for Canada's women's soccer team. Filigno has 15 caps under her belt as a member of the Canadian National Team. She scored her first international goal in Team Canada's 6-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Her first appearance on the squad was against the U.S. National Team in the Four Nations Cup, held in China.

School of Law–Camden student Renee Hykel will compete in the lightweight women's double sculls in Beijing. Hykel was a four-year letter winner in crew at St. Joseph's University. According to the Daily Times out of Primos, Pennsylvania: "After college, she quickly developed into one of the top female rowers in the country while competing for Penn A.C. She earned a spot on the national team and competed in four consecutive World Championships from 2003-06, winning a silver medal in the lightweight double sculls at the 2005 FISA World Championships… She took the year off from law school at Rutgers to devote all of her energy to making the Olympic team."

Scarlet Knights assistant women's soccer coach Karina LeBlanc will also play for Canada's women's soccer team. LeBlanc has played with the Canadian Women's National Team since 1997, with 62 caps under her belt. She led the Canadians to a fourth-place finish at the 2003 Women's World Cup as well as a spot in the 1999 Women's World Cup, competed at the 1999 Pan-American Games, and has served as a worldwide ambassador for the Canadian WNT. LeBlanc has served as an assistant coach at Rutgers the past three seasons, helping make the Scarlet Knights one of the best defensive teams in the BIG EAST.

Related Links
Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Rutgers Athletics