June 19, 2008

WASHINGTON -

American University Athletics’ team physician Dr. David Higgins will be a member of the 62-person U.S. Olympic Committee medical staff which will travel to Beijing, China, for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Higgins, an orthopedic surgeon, joined the AU medical staff as the team physician in 2001.

“Dr. Higgins is an incredibly talented doctor and we are extremely fortunate to have our student-athletes at AU under his care,” said AU head and U.S. National Field Hockey assistant coach Steve Jennings. “The entire AU Department of Athletics and Recreation is excited for him to have the opportunity to represent our University and the U.S. National Field Hockey Team at the Beijing Olympics.”

Higgins will work with the field hockey, fencing, archery and modern pentathlon teams in his second trip to the Olympics. At the 1996 Atlanta Games Higgins worked with the U.S. Softball Team. Higgins also worked at the 2001 World University Games in Zakopane, Poland, and the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece.

Higgins is one of three representatives of the AU Department of Athletics and Recreation that will be in Beijing for this summer’s Olympic Games. Jennings will be making his Olympic coaching debut as an assistant coach to the U.S. Women’s Field Hockey Team. Jennings competed in the 1996 Olympic Games as an athlete on the U.S. Men’s Field Hockey Team. Volunteer assistant wrestling coach Brad Vering will be making his second appearance at the Olympics on the U.S. Greco-Roman Wrestling Team. Vering previously wrestled on the 2004 Olympic team.

For more information on Jennings and the U.S. Women's Field Hockey Team, click here.

For more information on Vering and the U.S. Greco-Roman Wrestling Team, click here.