Vonn, Lysacek and Belbin/Agosto honored by the U.S. Olympic Committee

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee announced skier Lindsey Vonn and figure skater Evan Lysacek as its March Athletes of the Month, while the ice dancing pair of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto was awarded Team of the Month honors.

Vonn (Vail, Colo.) garnered Female Athlete of the Month for the second straight month after sharing the honor with World Champion luger Erin Hamlin in February. Vonn, who also finished second in Athlete of the Month voting in January, continued her dominant year by closing out the 2008-09 World Cup season in grand fashion. She kicked off the month with a Super-G win in Bansko, Bulgaria, before making her way to the World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden, where she won both the Downhill and the Super-G. With the Super-G race win, she became the first American woman to win the Super-G globe as the top overall Super-G racer for the season. When it was all said and done, Vonn received her Overall World Cup globe for the second straight year, a feat also unmatched in American history.

A two-time U.S. Champion and a two-time World bronze medalist, Lysacek (Naperville, Ill.) had the performance of his career in March. Skating near his training site in Los Angeles, Lysacek won the men's title at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at STAPLES Center. Lysacek became the first American man to win World gold since Todd Eldredge in 1996 and piqued expectations for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in the process. He came from behind after the short program to overtake accomplished Frenchman Brian Joubert and hold off Canadian teen Patrick Chan. He did it all while competing with a stress fracture in his foot, rendering him unable to attempt quad jumps. Lysacek previously won Athlete of the Month honors in November 2006.

Lysacek wasn't the only American who medaled at the World Championships. The five-time U.S. ice dancing champion team of Belbin (Glen Mills, Pa.) and Agosto (Chicago) captured the silver medal in their return to major competition. Agosto's back injury had kept them out of the ISU Grand Prix Final and the AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Competing in their ninth straight World Championships, Belbin and Agosto matched their best finish at the event and claimed their fourth overall World medal. They also moved up to third in the ISU ice dance standings. This is the third Team of the Month award for the most accomplished ice dancing team in American history. Belbin and Agosto also won it in January and February of 2006.

Finishing second in the Female Athlete of the Month voting was Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, La.), who became the first back-to-back Visa champion with her win in the women's 60-meter hurdles at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 1 at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Jones needed a 7.85-second run to overtake pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski for the overall series crown. Somewhat sluggish over the first hurdle, Jones rallied to win in 7.84 seconds, gaining 1,202 points and $25,000 in Visa Championship bonus money.

2004 Olympian Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) took third in the women's voting after helping the University of California women's swim team capture the Pacific-10 and NCAA titles in March. Vollmer, the NCAA Swimmer of the Year, won the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events and was part of the 400 and 800 free relay titles. Her 200 free and the 800 free relay times set meet records. She finished her collegiate career with three individual NCAA titles in three years at Cal after transferring from Florida.

Coming in second in the men's voting for the second straight month was cyclist Taylor Phinney  (Boulder, Colo.), who collected gold and silver medals while lowering two of his American records at the UCI Track World Championships in Poland, March 26-29. Phinney became the first American in 13 years to win an elite men's world title on the track, capturing the World Championship rainbow jersey in the 4-kilometer individual pursuit. A day later, the 18-year-old phenom earned silver in the kilometer time trial. In his final event, Phinney took sixth in the multi-race omnium competition.

Speedskater Trevor Marsicano (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) came in third for the men. Marsicano continued his rapid ascent up the international ranks during the World Cup Finals in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 6-7. He set a world record in the 1000m (only to have it broken 22 minutes later by teammate Shani Davis). Marsicano still held on for the silver medal in the event. He also captured a second silver in the 1500m. The next weekend at the World Single Distance Championships, Marsicano outskated Davis to win the 1000m gold. He added three more medals: a silver in the 1500m, a bronze in the 5000m and a bronze in the team pursuit. He became the first American to bring home four medals from a World Single Distance Championships.

Second place in the team vote went to the Men's National Field Hockey Team, which took silver at the 2009 Pan American Cup in Santiago, Chile. In the final, the Americans fell in overtime to Canada. Prior to that, they topped host Chile in the semifinals and overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat Trinidad & Tobago in pool play with three goals in nine minutes, including the game-winner in the final seconds. The second-place finish marked the best Pan Am Cup result for the Americans in their three appearances. With the silver medal, the Men's National Team's world ranking climbed 11 spots.

Coming in third was the men's synchronized diving duo of Thomas Finchum (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C.), who won silver medals in their team debut at the FINA World Series event in China on March 27. The pair scored 460.50 points, trailing only the Chinese team that won the 2008 Olympic gold. To get the silver, Finchum and McCrory topped the Beijing silver medalists from Germany by less than one point.

Results:

Women

1. Lindsey Vonn, Alpine Skiing

2. Lolo Jones, Athletics

3. Dana Vollmer, Swimming

Men

1. Evan Lysacek, Figure Skating

2. Taylor Phinney, Cycling

3. Trevor Marsicano, Speedskating

Team

1. Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto, Figure Skating

2. Men's National Team, Field Hockey

3. Thomas Finchum/Nick McCrory, Diving

For more information, please contact the USOC Communications Division at (719) 866-4529.