Long Beach State has a total of 11 athletes and coaches competing in the 2012 Olympics, and so far, not a single one has recorded a loss for their country.
Ex-LBSU star Misty May-Treanor and her partner Kerri Walsh are undefeated in three beach volleyball matches, five former 49ers have contributed to the United States’ Men’s Indoor Volleyball’s perfect record, two alumni are a part of the unbeaten USA women’s volleyball team and a former women’s water polo assistant has helped coach the national team to a 1-0-1 record.
LBSU also has a pair of track athletes who have yet to compete.
The Olympic action started on Saturday, when May-Treanor and Walsh faced the Australian pair of Tasmin Hinchley and Nat Cook. The two-time defending gold medalists defeated the Aussies 21-18 and 21-19 to kick off their pursuit of a third consecutive gold medal.
Two days later, they defeated Krystina Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic 21-14 and 21-19, then completed a sweep of their group with a 17-21, 21-8, 15-10 win over Stefanie and Doris Schweiger of Austria. May-Treanor and Walsh will now move on the single-elimination round of 16.
In men’s volleyball, LBSU head coach Alan Knipe and assistant Andy Read are leading Team USA in identical positions. Knipe has been on leave from The Beach since 2009 to coach a national team that includes middle blocker David Lee, outside hitter Paul Lotman and outside hitter David McKenzie, all of whom are former 49ers.
After winning an emotional gold medal in Beijing four years ago, the squad started its title defense with wins over Serbia and Germany. It swept both matches and still has to face Tunisia, Russia and Brazil in group play.
In women’s volleyball, outside hitter Tayyiba Haneef-Park and middle blocker Danielle Scott-Arruda are attempting to improve upon their silver-medal performance in Beijing. The LBSU standouts and national team veterans are off to a good start so far, as they helped Team USA beat South Korea, Brazil and China. Matches with Serbia and Turkey are the only things standing in the way of a berth in the round of 16 for the world’s top-ranked team.
The final former 49er to participate in the Olympics so far is Heather Moody, an assistant coach for the women’s water polo team. Moody looked on as her squad pulled out a 14-13 victory in a closely contended match with Hungary. Two days later, the team had to settle for a 9-9 draw with Spain, which now shares the top spot with the Americans in Group A. All that’s left for Moody and Team USA in group play is a match with a winless Chinese team.
LBSU also has some alumni representing other countries who have yet to compete in their events. Magnolia Howell of Trinidad and Tobago will run the women’s 100 meters starting on Friday and Kenneth Medwood will run the men’s 400-meter hurdles for Belize on the same day.
It has been an exciting Olympics for Long Beach to this point, as plenty of local participants not linked to LBSU have had success. Most notable of the bunch is Mckayla Maroney, whose nearly perfect score of 16.223 on vault helped the American women’s gymnastics team win its first team gold medal since 1996. Maroney, who was included among the “Fab Five” exclusively for her vaulting skill, trains in Costa Mesa but calls Long Beach home.
There has been less than a week of Olympic action so far, but the fast start of Long Beach’s best athletes is no fluke – each of the national volleyball teams are medal favorites, as is May-Treanor and her partner. All that’s left to do is put a medal next to the hype.