TUCSON, Ariz. -- A pair of Arizona softball seniors will head to Oklahoma City this week to try out for the U.S. Olympic Team that will compete in the 2020 Olympics next summer in Tokyo. The 2020 USA Softball Women's National Team Olympic Selection Trials will be held Oct. 2-6 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.
Dejah Mulipola, a catcher from Garden Grove, California, and
Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, a centerfielder from Mission Viejo, California, are two of 29 athletes vying for 15 spots on the Olympic Roster. There will be three additional players selected as alternates.
Mulipola and Palomino-Cardoza are two of seven current NCAA players that received invites to the selection trials; Arizona and UCLA are the only schools to have multiple current student-athletes at the tryout.
The duo will look to join UA alumnae
Taylor McQuillin and
Danielle O'Toole, who qualified with the Mexican National Team, in Tokyo. McQuillin and O'Toole became Arizona's fifth and sixth Olympians in school history by winning the Americas Olympic Qualifier in early September.
Mulipola, a current member of the U.S. Women's National Team, was named Johnny Bench and NFCA Catcher of the Year as a junior in 2019. The three-year starter at Arizona has hit 47 home runs in her Wildcat career, including a career-most 23 last season, which ranked fourth in the NCAA.
Palomino-Cardoza, who was the 2016 USA Softball Junior Female Athlete of the Year while competing for the U.S. Junior Women's National Team, has been named a first-team All-American each of the last two seasons, UA's first player to earn back-to-back first-team All-America honors in eight years.Â
ARIZONA SOFTBALL OLYMPIANS
| Name |
Years |
Country |
| Mike Candrea (Head Coach) |
2004, 2008 |
United States |
| Jennie Finch |
2004, 2008 |
United States |
| Nicole Giordano (Alternate) |
2004 |
United States |
| Alicia Hollowell (Alternate) |
2008 |
United States |
| Lovie Jung |
2004 |
United States |
| Caitlin Lowe |
2008 |
United States |
| Taylor McQuillin |
2020 |
Mexico |
| Leah O'Brien |
1996, 2000, 2004 |
United States |
| Danielle O'Toole |
2020 |
Mexico |
