5 to Watch: Heartbreaker for Women's Field Hockey, NJ's Laurie Hernandez Competes on the Beam
By Dan Stamm and NBC10 Staff ••
From the USA (let's call them the "Philly") Field Hockey Team looking to get one step closer to a medal to a New Jersey gymnast trying to to add to her medal count, here's what to watch Monday in Rio.
After suffering their first loss of the Olympics on Saturday, 2-1 to Great Britain, the U.S. women’s field hockey – packed with a roster of women from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including three-time Olympian Rachel Dawson of Berlin -- team fell short against Germany in the quarterfinal. Germany beat them 2-1 Monday, ending their shot at a spot on the podium.
Germany took an early lead, scoring the first goal with a little more than seven minutes to go in the first quarter. The U.S. managed to score one point later in the game, but they couldn't come back and wound up losing by a point.
The U.S. women have not won an Olympic field hockey medal since taking bronze in 1984 and they came in last in London – something that won’t happen this time.
Laurie Hernandez couldn't wait to get back to New Jersey so she could grab some Wawa but before she left Rio she had another shot at gold in the balance beam final. The “Final Five” gymnast ultimately won silver with a strong routine in her best event. Hernandez's teammate Simone Biles won bronze after a costly stumble on the balance beam. Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands followed Biles and seized the moment, winning gold with a poised, graceful routine.
Christenson, U.S. Men's Volleyball Beat Mexico
Hawaii native Micah Christenson made a name for himself in 2009 when he became the youngest U.S. setter to ever play in a world championships as part of the U.S. Boy’s Youth Team at 16. The following year, he played for the youth and junior teams and was named Best Setter. [[390126391, C]]
The U.S. – with Penn State alum Max Holt – beat Mexico in three sets Monday morning for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The game was crucial – Italy leads the group with 12 points, but the U.S., France, Canada and Brazil went into Monday's games tied for second with six points.
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Philadelphia and Villanova's University's Kyle Lowry took home his first gold medal well playing point guard for the United States Men's Basketball team in Rio.
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The United States Men's Basketball team struggled in some of its games but dominated Serbia in the gold medal game.
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The United States Men's Volleyball Team -- with Penn state alums Matt Anderson, Max Holt & Aaron Russell playing critical roles -- took home bronze in Rio.
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Gold medalists Brazil and silver medalists Italy joined Team USA on the podium.
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Gold medalists Tamika Catchings and Elena Delle Donne share an emotional moment during the medal ceremony after winning Women's Basketball gold on Aug. 20, 2016.
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Tamika Catchings, born in Philadelphia, joined Delle Donne on the medal stand.
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Delaware's Elena Delle Donne took home gold in her first Olympics.
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Team USA's women's basketball team dominated again on its way to gold, not losing a single game.
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New Jersey's Shakur Stevenson took home silver in Men's Bantam (56kg) boxing.
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Stevenson joins gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba and bronze medalists Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan and Vladimir Nikitin of Russia during the medal ceremony for the Men's Bantam (56kg) on Day 15 of the Rio Games.
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The United States Women's Volleyball team -- including a duo of Penn state alums -- took home bronze in Rio.
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Serbia won silver and China took home the women's volleyball gold.
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Voorhees, New Jersey's English Gardner dashed to gold in Rio as part of the United States Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Team.
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(left to right) Tori Bowie, Morolake Akinosun and Tianna Bartoletta joined Gardner on the podium. Allyson Felix also shared in the gold.
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Princeton University's Ashleigh Johnson impressed in goal as the United States Women's Water Polo team took home Olympic gold on Aug. 19, 2016 in Rio.
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Team Italy took home silver while Team Russia took home bronze to join Team USA on the medal podium.
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Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's Joe Kovacs brought home silver in the Men's Shot Put with a throw of 71-5-1/2 feet.
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Kovacs joined teammate and gold medalist Ryan Crouser and bronze medalist Tomas Walsh of New Zealand on the podium.
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Philadelphia's Nia Ali took home silver in the Women's 100-Meter Hurdles.
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Ali was joined by (L-R) Bronze medalist Kristi Castlin, her son Titus and gold medalist Brianna Rollins in sweeping the event.
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The United States hurdlers pose with their medals.
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Old Bridge, New Jersey gymnast Laurie Hernandez took home silver on the balance beam on Day 10 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Aug. 15, 2016.
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Bronze medalist Simone Biles of the United States and gold medalist Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands join Laurie Hernandez on the podium.
Bronze medalists, (left to right) Monica Aksamit, Ibtihaj Muhammad and Dagmara Wozniak (who are all from New Jersey) and Mariel Zagunis celebrate on the podium after winning the Women's Sabre Team bronze medal match between United States and Italy on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympics on Aug. 13, 2016.
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Russia won gold and Ukraine took home silver in the team event.
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The Women's Eight, which trains in Princeton, New Jersey, took home gold on Day 8 of the Rio Olympics Games on Aug. 13, 2016.
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The gold medal was the third-straight for the United States women who have won every world championship as well for the past decade.
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The silver medal went to Great Britain while Romania took home bronze.
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Philadelphia fencer Miles Chamley-Watson finally realized his goal of winning an Olympic medal as he took home a bronze in the Men's Team Foil event on Day 7 of the Rio Olympics on Aug. 12, 2016.
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Fencers (left to right) Race Imboden, Gerek Meinhardt and Alexander Massialas rounded out the bronze medal team. They joined silver medalists France and gold medalists Russia on the podium.
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Dutton joined Silver medalist Astier Nicolas of France (left), Gold medal medallist Michael Jung of Germany (middle) on the medal stand.
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Leah Smith took home bronze in the Women's 400m Freestyle Final on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on Aug. 7, 2016. It was her first Olympic medal.
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Smith got to hear the "Star Spangled Banner" thanks to fellow American Katie Ledecky bringing home gold in the event.
U.S. Women’s Water Polo Team, with Local Ashleigh Johnson in Goal, Blocks Out Brazil
The women's water polo team, with Princeton's Ashleigh Johnson in goal, knocked Brazil out in the quarterfinal Monday afternoon, beating the host team 13-3.
The U.S. women are now 4-0 through the Rio Olympics. Now that they've beat Brazil and advanced, they'll face the winner of the Australia-Hungary game, which takes place later Monday afternoon, in semifinals on Wednesday.
Pennsylvania's Bobby Lea Falls Short in Time Trial
Topton, Pennsylvania's Bobby Lea entered his third Olympics hoping to bring home his first medal -- but it's a long shot after a tough first and second day of the Omnium. [[390145592, C]]
The six-part men's Omnium started Sunday afternoon with the scratch race as Lea took the lead at one point before finishing second-to-last and earning only eight points. He finished eighth in the individual pursuit to move into 12th place ahead of the elimination race but after placing 11th in that race, Lea entered the second day of competition in 15th place with only 20 points. In his time trial race Monday morning, Lea finished in 1:05:33, placing 14th.
Lea wound up missing out on the final points race finishing 17th out of 18 riders.
