Ruggiero Joins Heroes Tour
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Former Harvard standout Angela Ruggiero, the 2004 Patty Kazmaier Award winner and four-time first-team All-America selection, is one of five Olympic medalists from various sports planning to travel to Afghanistan and Qatar on a goodwill military tour Jan. 4-13.
Ruggiero, a three-time U.S Olympian, will join Shawn Crawford (track & field), Jessica Mendoza (softball), Shannon Miller (gymnastics) and Mike Whitmarsh (beach volleyball) on the 10-day trip to meet U.S. troops who are spending the holidays away from their homes.
A first-team Academic All-America selection as a senior at Harvard, Ruggiero was generally considered the world's top female hockey player when she graduated in 2004. She helped the Crimson to the national championship in 1999 and NCAA championship game appearances in 2003 and 2004 and was a member of two ECAC championship teams.
She also has a full set of Olympic medals in her collection as she won gold with the U.S. team in 1998, silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006. She also made history as the first female non-goaltender to play significant minutes in a U.S. men's professional hockey game when she competed for the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League in January 2005.
Most recently, Ruggiero was member of the U.S. National Team at the International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship in Apri.
