COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The U.S. Olympic Committee announced tennis player Serena Williams and figure skater Jeremy Abbott as its January Athletes of the Month, while the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Hockey Team was awarded Team of the Month honors.
Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) couldn't have started the year much better, sweeping the Australian Open singles and women's doubles titles and going 10-1 for the month. In Melbourne, she beat No. 3 Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 in the singles final one day after teaming with sister Venus Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) to claim the doubles crown. She captured her 10th career major singles victory and eighth career major doubles title and reclaimed the No. 1 singles ranking.
In winning his first U.S. Figure Skating Championship, Abbott (Colorado Springs, Colo.) upstaged two-time National champion Evan Lysacek (Los Angeles) and three-time national champion Johnny Weir (Quarryville, Pa). Abbott, 23, became the oldest first-time National champion since Rudy Galindo in 1996 and secured a berth at the World Championships in March.
The U.S. Women's National Under-18 Hockey Team captured the International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's U18 Championship for the second straight year, going 5-0 and outscoring opponents 58-4. In the semifinals, the U.S. overpowered the Czech Republic for an 18-0 victory. The gold-medal game against Canada was much closer, but Team USA was able to grind out a 3-2 win in overtime to clinch the championship. Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.) scored the game-winner and tallied a tournament-leading eight goals.
U.S. Women's National U18 Hockey Team Roster:
Brittany Ammerman (River Vale, N.J.), Blake Bolden (Stow, Ohio), Corinne Boyles (Wheaton, Ill.), Megan Bozek (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), Kate Brock (Marblehead, Mass.), Caroline Campbell (Fordland, Mo.), Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.), Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.), Jillian Dempsey (Winthrop, Mass.), Lyndsey Fry (Chandler, Ariz.), Alev Kelter (Eagle River, Alaska), Jamie Kenyon (Sparta, Wis.), Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.), Meagan Mangene (Manorville, N.Y.), Alex Nelson (Andover, Minn.), Madison Packer (Birmingham, Mich.), Amanda Pelkey (Montpelier, Vt.), Alex Rigsby (Delafield, Wis.), Taylor Wasylk (Port Huron, Mich.), Jackie Young (Medford, Mass.).
Receiving second place in the women's voting was alpine skier Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.), who continued to reign over the World Cup overall standings. She took two wins and two podiums to draw herself one victory from tying Tamara McKinney's record for most World Cup wins by a U.S. woman. Vonn opened the month in Austria with a win on Jan. 17 in the super combined, followed the next day by placing third in the downhill. On Jan. 24, she took second in a downhill in Italy before moving on to Germany to close the month with a slalom win.
Alissa Czisny (Bowling Green, Ohio) finished third in the women's voting after winning her first U.S. Figure Skating title. It marked a breakthrough victory for the veteran Czisny, who had finished higher than seventh just once (third in 2007) in her previous seven senior nationals appearances. Czisny, 21, became the oldest first-time National champion since Nancy Kerrigan won as a 23-year-old in 1993. She beat out 2008 World Junior champion Rachael Flatt (Del Mar, Calif.) and defending U.S. champion Mirai Nagasu (Arcadia, Calif.).
Coming in second in the men's voting was wrestler Steve Mocco (Coralville, Iowa), a 2008 Olympian who won a gold medal on Jan. 25 at the Ivan Yarygin Memorial Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Mocco won the freestyle title at 120 kg/264.5 lbs and became only the 10th U.S. wrestler to claim a gold medal in the 20 years that the United States has been attending the event. Many claim that the Yarygin Memorial is the toughest freestyle wrestling tournament in the world each year. Mocco won four matches on the way to the gold medal. In the finals, he defeated Soslan Gagloev of Russia by injury default.
Earning the third-place vote was Paralympic skier Tyler Walker (Franconia, N.H.), who won three races during a five-day span over two continents and two disciplines. On Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, he won World Cup downhills in Sestriere, Italy. On Jan. 25, he captured first place at the X Games mono ski-cross in Aspen, Colo.
Second place in the team vote went to the men's tennis doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.). The twin brothers went undefeated in January, winning 10 matches and reclaiming their No. 1 doubles ranking. They captured their third Australian Open crown and seventh overall major title. The Bryans also won their only other tournament in January - the $600,000 Medibank International in Sydney.
Coming in third was the figure skating pairs team of Keauna McLaughlin (Los Angeles) and Rockne Brubaker (Algonquin, Ill.), who won their second straight National title at the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Cleveland Ohio. In coming from behind after the short program, McLaughlin and Brubaker became the first pairs team to win back-to-back National titles since Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman in 2002.
Results:
Men
1. Jeremy Abbott, Figure Skating
2. Steve Mocco, Wrestling
3. Tyler Walker, Paralympic Skiing
Women
1. Serena Williams, Tennis
2. Lindsey Vonn, Alpine Skiing
3. Alissa Czisny, Figure Skating
Team
1. U.S. Women's National Under-18 Hockey Team
2. Bob/Mike Bryan, Tennis
3. Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker, Figure Skating