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One of Ephrata's own recently competed in the 39th annual AAU Junior Olympics in New Orleans.

Junior Hannah Hess of Ephrata was selected from an original pool of more than 5,000 elite players for the week-long competition Aug. 3-7 at Tulane University.

The USA Field Hockey Association's Futures Program identified Hannah at the National Futures Championships at Virginia Beach July 11-16, where 646 of the elite hockey players of the nation competed at the USA National Field Hockey Training Center, culminating five months of elite-level training and tactical instruction.

Earlier at Lehigh University, she was picked for their regional Pennsylvania teams of 111 players from over 460 hockey athletes in the state in order to go to Nationals at Virginia Beach.

The Junior Olympics tourney consisted of eight teams with players mixed from all over the country.

Hess's team finished seventh, but improved steadily during the tournament. She played mostly midfield, and had played on a national level last year. Hess was coached by Mike Eisenhour of the Delaware/Maryland Futures Program.

Collegiate coaches had the opportunity to evaluate all the nation's top field hockey athletes at the qualifiers, and the Virginia Beach and New Orleans national events.

The 39th Junior Olympics involved more than 20,000 athletes in 20 sports, with registration held in the Louisiana Superdome, and the Opening Ceremonies for over 15,000 in the New Orleans Arena.

Daneen Zug of Manheim Central, left, and Hannah Hess of Ephrata competed 
in the AAU Junior Olympics earlier this month in New Orleans.