Five Cavaliers Named to USFHA High Performance Field Hockey Teams

Story Links

June 12, 2007

Charlottesville – Virginia’s Kaitlyn Hiltz, Alex Kyser, Christina Kirkaldy, Mia Link and Traci Ragukas have been named to US Field Hockey’s High Performance team and will compete for the US Field Hockey National Championship this summer in Virginia Beach, Va. Link and Ragukas will play for Team Virginia/Maryland, while Kirkaldy and Kyser will suit up for the team from the Midwest Center. Hiltz, playing in front of her hometown crowd, will play for the South team.

US Field Hockey has six regional high performance training centers around the nation. National team coaches at these centers identify and train potential National Team athletes through comprehensive training/skill enhancement sessions and premier level competitions. The centers allow athletes to train in regional areas close to their homes by some of the country’s top coaches. Each June athletes are chosen to represent the centers in the High Performance national championships.

Link has won the US National Championship in each of the last two years, winning with the US Junior Team in 2005 and with the Maryland team in 2006. She was a member of the US Junior World Cup team that finished seventh in the world in 2006, the highest finish for a USA Junior team in history.

Ragukas, who was named to the national All-Rookie team in 2006, has represented the USA before, including as a member of the CanAm series in 2004. She participated in US U19 Futures Elite Tour to Holland, 2006 and helped the USA to a first-place finish in the Marteeny Tournament, going 5-0-3. This is Ragukas’ first stint with the High Performance side.

Kirkaldy was invited to train with the national team earlier this year and was a member of Team California in 2006. In the 2006 national championships, she led all goalkeepers with saves made.

“Christina has been in the program a long time preparing for the opportunity to play for USA. There is only goal cage and three or four keepers vying for the cage. I think Tina should be given a real chance to prove herself. The coaches may be really surprised,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison.

Kyser returns to the Midwest team for the sixth consecutive year. She has been a part of the Summer League program since 2001, when she played for head coach Madison with the Midwest Cyclones. In 2002 the Cyclones were the national runners-up.

Hiltz, who led the nation in scoring in 2006 with a phenomenal 50 goals, scored in 23 consecutive games, a streak that ranked third nationally. The Eastern Region Player of the Year, Hiltz was one of only five high school athletes to play in the EPTC National Championship in the summer of 2006 where she played for Team California with current Virginia assistant coach Christina Kirkaldy. She is a two-year member of the Olympic Development Select team, and was on the team in 2006 that took first place in the Marteeny Tournament along with Ragukas.

“We are pleased to have five players and coaches representing Virginia at the National Championships,” said Madison. “It will be interesting and fun for me to watch them compete against each other.”

Competition begins on June 17 in Virginia Beach as the Virginia/Maryland side takes on team California while Midwest plays South.