- Jessica Mendoza
-
Medal record Competitor for 
United StatesWomen's Softball Olympic Games Gold Athens 2004 Team Competition Silver 2008 Beijing Team competition Jessica Mendoza (born November 11, 1980 in Camarillo, California), is an American softball player of Mexican descent, who played for the United States women's national softball team from 2004-2010 and a four-time first team All-American at Stanford University from 1999-2002. Mendoza wears number two and plays outfield. [1][2][3][4]
Contents
High School
Mendoza, a graduate of Adolfo Camarillo High School, was named Los Angeles Times Player of the Year in 1998. During her junior and senior year, she was named Camarillo High School Female Athlete of the Year. Mendoza was also a member of the high school basket ball team and was the team MVP in both her junior and senior years. [5]
College
Mendoza played softball for Stanford University, where she was named the Stanford Athlete of the Year three times. [6] Mendoza helped lead Stanford to their first ever NCAA Women's College World Series appearance. She was named First-Team All-American for all four years and four-time All Pac-10 first team. She was also named Pac-10 Player of the Week three times, a top 25 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, and the Speedline Invitational Tournament MVP.
In 2001, Mendoza earned the Pac-10 Player of the Year award and was also named the NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player and was the Stanford Female Conference Athlete of the Year. [7] Mendoza graduated from Stanford with a Master’s Degree in Social Sciences and Education.[8]
Olympics
In 2004, Mendoza was a starting outfielder for U.S.A. at 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Mendoza hit 5-for-20 (.250) scoring five times herself and hitting in another five RBIs. Team U.S.A. won the gold medal.
In 2008, Mendoza was again an outfielder for Team U.S.A. in the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. This time, her team won the silver medal, losing to Japan in the finals.
Professional Career
Straight out of college, Mendoza went directly onto the U.S.A. team. In 2003 and 2005, she was a gold medalist at the Pan American Games. She also won the silver medal at both the World Cup and Japan Cup. In 2006, Jessica was named the USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year. She played for Team U.S.A. in the World Cup again in 2007, this time bringing home that gold medal. She went 11-for-18 with a double, three home runs, and 16 RBIs. Mendoza won the ISF Women's World Championship, hitting a .500 batting average with five home runs and 16 RBIs. In 2008, she was named to the Canada Cup All Star Team.
Mendoza declined an invitation to play for Team U.S.A. in 2011 to focus on National ProFastpitch [9].
Mendoza is the Women's Sports Foundation President and ian ESPN color analyst during the Woman's College World Series. She is an athletic ambassador for Team Darfur and board member of the National Education Association. Currently, she is a member of the Florida Pride NPF team. [10]
Personal
A daughter of Karen and Gil Mendoza, Jessica has one brother, Walt, and two sisters, Elena and Alana. Her father played football for four years for Fresno State University in California. Mendoza is married to Adam Burks and they have one son named Caleb Ashton.
References
- ^ http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=127/bio/ NBC Olympics Bio
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/sports/olympics/biomendoza.html NY Times
- ^ http://www.nikeusmedia.com/olympics/Jessica-Mendoza_55.html Nike Media
- ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/sports/17727849.html Philly
- ^ http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/mendoza_jessica00.html>
- ^ http://www.usasoftball.com/bios.asp?uid=780>
- ^ http://www.pfxtour.com/pros/mendoza.jsp>
- ^ http://softball.teamusa.org/athletes/jessica-mendoza>
- ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivdZsJdcYXrbihOAgsFYSNnwO3dQ?docId=e2ed0b7210d34907bbeeeaaff1f7e23c
- ^ [5 ] http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Athletes/M/Mendoza-Jessica.aspx>
External links
Notes
- ^ http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=127/bio/ NBC Olympics Bio
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/sports/olympics/biomendoza.html NY Times
- ^ http://www.nikeusmedia.com/olympics/Jessica-Mendoza_55.html Nike Media
- ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/sports/17727849.html Philly
- ^ http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/mendoza_jessica00.html>
- ^ http://www.usasoftball.com/bios.asp?uid=780>
- ^ http://www.pfxtour.com/pros/mendoza.jsp>
- ^ http://softball.teamusa.org/athletes/jessica-mendoza>
- ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivdZsJdcYXrbihOAgsFYSNnwO3dQ?docId=e2ed0b7210d34907bbeeeaaff1f7e23c
- ^ [5 ] http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Athletes/M/Mendoza-Jessica.aspx>
Categories:- Living people
- 1980 births
- Stanford Cardinal softball players
- People from Ventura County, California
- Softball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- American softball players
- Olympic softball players of the United States
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States
- American sportspeople of Mexican descent
- Softball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic medalists in softball
- Female softball players
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
