University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
U.S. Olympians Ally Carda, Rachel Garcia, Bubba Nickles and Delaney Spaulding.
Photo by: USA Softball
Four Bruins Named to 2020 U.S. Olympic Team
October 06, 2019 | Softball
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A quartet of Bruins were named to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team on Sunday, as announced by USA Softball, as seniors Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles and UCLA alums Ally Carda and Delaney Spaulding will be heading to Tokyo next summer.
The foursome will become the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Bruin alums to participate on the Olympic stage and the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th to do so for the Red, White and Blue. The list of UCLA/United States Olympians for softball consists of Christie Ambrosi, Jennifer Brundage (twice), Sheila Cornell Douty (twice), Andrea Duran, Lisa Fernandez (four times), Tairia Mims Flowers (twice), Amanda Freed (twice), Stacey Nuveman (thrice), Dot Richardson (twice), Natasha Watley (twice) and Christa Williams. Joanne Alchin (twice), Kerry Dienelt (twice) and Tanya Harding (four times) represented Australia and Janice Parks represented Puerto Rico.
Softball was last in the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, China, as Japan won gold, the U.S. won silver and Australia won bronze. After being dropped from the Olympic schedule in 2009, a baseball-softball bid was approved for addition into the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2016.
Carda's 2019 summer was her fifth consecutive season with USA Softball. She won gold at this summer's USA Softball International Cup (17 strikeouts, 14 1/3 innings, 0.99 earned run average). Carda also won gold at the 2016 WBSC Women's World Championship, the 2017 Pan American Championship and the 2018 Japan Cup.
Garcia played with the Red, White and Blue for the second summer in a row in 2019, winning gold medals at the Pan American Games (10 strikeouts, 8 1/3 innings, 0.00 ERA, 4-for-12, 3 runs batted in) and the Japan Cup (8 strikeouts, 4 2/3 innings, 0.00 ERA), as well as gold at the 2018 WBSC Women's World Championship (1.05 ERA, 13 strikeouts, 6 2/3 innings).
Nickles played with the U.S. Junior Women's National Team in 2015 and 2017 and the Elite Team in 2016 and 2018. She won gold at the '15 and '17 WBSC Junior Women's World Championship, setting numerous offensive records at the '17 Junior Worlds, and also competed at the '18 Japan All-Star Series and International Cup.
Spaulding represented Team USA for the fourth summer in a row in 2019, winning gold at the Pan American Games (8-for-22, three home runs, 11 RBI). She has also won gold with the U.S. at the 2016 and 2018 WBSC Women's World Championship and the 2017 Pan American Games, and silver at the 2016 and 2017 World Cup of Softball.
A quartet of Bruins were named to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team on Sunday, as announced by USA Softball, as seniors Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles and UCLA alums Ally Carda and Delaney Spaulding will be heading to Tokyo next summer.
The foursome will become the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Bruin alums to participate on the Olympic stage and the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th to do so for the Red, White and Blue. The list of UCLA/United States Olympians for softball consists of Christie Ambrosi, Jennifer Brundage (twice), Sheila Cornell Douty (twice), Andrea Duran, Lisa Fernandez (four times), Tairia Mims Flowers (twice), Amanda Freed (twice), Stacey Nuveman (thrice), Dot Richardson (twice), Natasha Watley (twice) and Christa Williams. Joanne Alchin (twice), Kerry Dienelt (twice) and Tanya Harding (four times) represented Australia and Janice Parks represented Puerto Rico.
Softball was last in the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, China, as Japan won gold, the U.S. won silver and Australia won bronze. After being dropped from the Olympic schedule in 2009, a baseball-softball bid was approved for addition into the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2016.
Carda's 2019 summer was her fifth consecutive season with USA Softball. She won gold at this summer's USA Softball International Cup (17 strikeouts, 14 1/3 innings, 0.99 earned run average). Carda also won gold at the 2016 WBSC Women's World Championship, the 2017 Pan American Championship and the 2018 Japan Cup.
Garcia played with the Red, White and Blue for the second summer in a row in 2019, winning gold medals at the Pan American Games (10 strikeouts, 8 1/3 innings, 0.00 ERA, 4-for-12, 3 runs batted in) and the Japan Cup (8 strikeouts, 4 2/3 innings, 0.00 ERA), as well as gold at the 2018 WBSC Women's World Championship (1.05 ERA, 13 strikeouts, 6 2/3 innings).
Nickles played with the U.S. Junior Women's National Team in 2015 and 2017 and the Elite Team in 2016 and 2018. She won gold at the '15 and '17 WBSC Junior Women's World Championship, setting numerous offensive records at the '17 Junior Worlds, and also competed at the '18 Japan All-Star Series and International Cup.
Spaulding represented Team USA for the fourth summer in a row in 2019, winning gold at the Pan American Games (8-for-22, three home runs, 11 RBI). She has also won gold with the U.S. at the 2016 and 2018 WBSC Women's World Championship and the 2017 Pan American Games, and silver at the 2016 and 2017 World Cup of Softball.
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