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CWPA Hall of Fame Member & Olympic Medalist Betsey Armstrong to Lead Arizona State into 2008 Collegiate Club Championship
ATHENS, Ohio -- For former University of Michigan standout goalie Betsey Armstrong, the 2008 season has been one of unprecedented heights as she was inducted into the Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame in the spring and led Team USA to a silver medal at the Olympics in Beijing during the summer.
Now she will look to guide the Arizona State University men's water polo club team to a national title in the fall as she will start in cage for the Sun Devils at the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship on the campus of Ohio University from November 14-16.
One of the nation's best players, Armstrong helped the Sun Devils capture the Southwest Division title this year by going undefeated in division play during the regular season before Arizona State stopped Northern Arizona University (19-3 W), the University of Arizona "B" (23-4 W) and the University of Arizona (11-9 W) at the division championship tournament.
A graduate student at Arizona
State, an assistant coach for the women's varsity team and the
university's Director of Water Polo Operations under varsity head
coach and fellow men's club player/graduate student Todd Clapper,
she is responsible for running the women's varsity team's
day-to-day operations of the program, including meetings, travel
and practice set up, while also working with the program’s
goalies in the water at practice.
A volunteer coach for the Sun Devils women's varsity team in 2006
before earning a place on the U.S. National Team roster, Armstrong
returned to Tempe this year after helping the U.S. Women’s
National Team to the Silver Medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In
the Summer Games, Armstrong led the Americans to a 2-0-1 record in
the preliminary rounds as she halted 27 shots, including 10 each in
a 9-9 tie with Italy and 12-7 defeat of Russia. She then stopped
eight shots in USA’s 9-8 defeat of Australia in the
semifinals. In the gold medal game, she halted 14 shots, but the
Americans were edged, 9-8, by the Netherlands.
In her three years with the American side, Armstrong played a
pivotal role in keeping her team at or near the top of the world
rankings and world tournament standings. In the past three FINA
World League Super Finals, Armstrong was named the MVP Goalkeeper
in 2008 while helping the Americans to a silver medal after leading
the team to gold medals in both 2006 and 2007. She also was
selected as the MVP Goalkeeper at the 2007 FINA World Championships
as she led the Americans to the gold medal before the U.S. won gold
at the Pan-Am Games. Following her World Championship effort, she
also was named the March 2007 runner-up for the U.S. Olympic
Committee’s Female Athlete of the Month award.
Prior to her international experiences, Armstrong was a four-year
starter in the cage for the University of Michigan and earned
All-America recognition all four years she played (2002, 2003, 2004
and 2005). A 2005 Big Ten Scholar Athlete and two-time Michigan
Academic Achievement Award recipient (2002, 2005), Armstrong also
was one of three finalists for the 2004 Pete Cutino Player of the
Year Award, which is annually given to the top female collegiate
water polo player in the nation. She graduated from UM in April of
2005 with her B.A. in English. Prior to her collegiate days, she
was a two-year member of the U.S. Junior National Team (2000-01)
and was the starting goalie at the 2000 Junior Pan-Am Games.
Armstrong has been and continues to remain active in the water
polo community, both in and out of the pool. She is currently a
‘Right to Play’ Ambassador as well as a PACE Clinic
Coach for USA Water Polo (since 2006).
