July 20, 2012
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Dani Hemeon and Kathleen McGraw have been selected to the 2012-13 United States Under-21 Junior Women’s National Squad. Selections were made following the completion of the Junior National Camp held last week at the University of Massachusetts. McGraw has been selected to the U21 team for the second-straight year.
“Dani and Merty (McGraw) have had a great summer of hockey,” said Iowa head coach Tracey Griesbaum. “Their selection to both the U21 Junior National Squad and the Developmental Squad are testaments of their attitude, skill, and physical ability. The Iowa field hockey program has a rich tradition of student-athletes wearing the Red, White, and Blue. I look forward to their contributions this season as well as into the future with Team USA. It is a phenomenal honor to represent your country and we are very proud of them.”
Both Hemeon and McGraw were named to the US National Team Development Squad in early June.
Hemeon, a midfielder from Gilroy, Calif., saw action in 17 contests as a freshman in 2011. The sophomore competed on the California Senior High Performance team at the 2010 and 2012 USA Women’s National Championships and was a member of the Midwest Junior High Performance team in 2011.
McGraw, a native of Atherton, Calif., is a three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad member. The senior was named second team All-Big Ten and regional All-America in 2011 as a junior. The goalkeeper ranked first in the Big Ten with five shutouts, giving her 10 for her career. She ranked first in the conference in save percentage (.782) during the regular season. McGraw ranked ninth nationally in goals against average (1.34) and sixth in the country in save percentage during the regular season. She has started the last 49 games in goal for Iowa and has started 53 of 54 career games played.
The U21 squad is comprised of 30 athletes. Many of the athletes will report to a training camp next month at the University of Maryland in preparation for the Junior Pan American Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sept. 8-24.
McGraw was joined by fellow senior Sarah Drake on last year’s U21 squad. Iowa had four standouts selected to the U21 team in 2005 — Caroline Blaum, Lauren Pfeiffer, Heather Schnepf and Kadi Sickel. Since 1983, 32 Hawkeyes have had the opportunity to represent the United States on a junior national team.