Assistant softball coach Laura Berg named to USA team

USA Softball named Bulldog assistant softball coach Laura Berg as a member of its 18-member squad that will comprise the 2004 USA Women's National Team.

Berg, who stepped down from her job last month to join the team, is a four-time Bulldog All-American and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist. She has been a part of the USA Softball national system since 1994 when she was member of the USA Team that captured gold at the ISF Women's World Championship in St. John's Newfoundland, Canada. Her USA Softball resume includes two Olympic gold medals, three World Championship gold medals and two Pan Am gold medals.

The 2004 USA Women's National Team will train for the next 12 months in preparation of defense of its back-to-back gold medals captured at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

The official USA Softball Olympic Team will be trimmed down to 15 players in early January as the Olympic roster consists of 15 players; three players will be considered alternates.

The United States will enter the 2004 Summer Olympic Games as the No. 1 seed after capturing the World Championship title in 2002.