Lysacek (Los Angeles, Calif.) won the gold medal at the Cup of China, Nov. 9-12, marking the first title for his career in an ISU Grand Prix Series event.  In doing so, he qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where the top-six men in the world competed for the prestigious Grand Prix title.  With a final score of 220.04 points, Lysacek missed his personal best score by only one point, and beat the second-place finisher by nearly 20 points. (199.11).

2006 Olympian Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) won her first-ever World Cup gold medal to lead the U.S. women’s skeleton team at the season-opening World Cup women’s skeleton race held Nov. 30 at the Canada Olympic Park track in Calgary, Alberta. Just 0.01 seconds behind Canada’s Michelle Kelly after the first run, Uhlaender came out blistering on her second slide with the day’s fastest start and best run, and earned a victory of 0.79 seconds over 2006 Olympic gold medalist Maya Pedersen of Switzerland. Pedersen won the 2005 World Championships on the Calgary track.

Bryant (Chatham, Ill.) and Rittenhouse (Santa Cruz, Calif.) won the gold medal in women’s synchronized 3-meter diving event at the FINA Grand Prix Super Final in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Nov. 17. They scored 277.80 points to claim their first international gold medal after winning two silvers earlier in 2006.

Second place for the men went to rising tennis star James Blake (Fairfield, Conn.). Blake earned a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world and became the top-ranked American for the second time this year after reaching the final of the Master Cup in Shanghai, his first appearance in the season-ending championships.  Blake was the last player to qualify for the eight-player field and defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain and No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in round-robin play before eliminating defending champion David Nalbandian of Argentina in the semifinals.  Blake then lost to world No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland in the best of five set final.  His record for the month was 3-2 with all five matches coming against players ranked in the top-seven in the world during the Shanghai event.

Wrestler Jared Lawrence (Minneapolis, Minn.) was third in the male voting.  Lawrence won two international wrestling competitions in back-to-back weeks, beating some top foreign and domestic opponents along the way.  He won a gold medal at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. at the New York Athletic Club Holiday International in New York City, Nov. 18-19. Lawrence defeated Jared Frayer of the Gator WC in the championship finals, 2-0, 5-4. Frayer was ranked No. 2 on Team USA, while Lawrence was No. 3 this year.  He also won a gold medal at the Henri Deglane Challenge in Nice, France, Nov. 24-25, beating four international opponents.

Second place for the female voting went to wrestler Randi Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who won three different international competitions during the month. She opened the month with a gold medal at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. at the Clansmen International Open in Burnaby Mountain, B.C., Canada on Nov. 4. Miller won a special challenge match against Stephanie Howorun of Canada in Dallas, Texas during the NWCA All-Star Classic, Nov. 20. Miller, who attended high school in Arlington, Texas, won the bout 4-0, 2-0.  Miller then claimed a gold medal at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. at the Henri Deglane Challenge in Nice, France, Nov. 24-25.

2006 Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, Colo.) was third in the women's vote.  Bleiler won the World Cup opener by 2.5 points at the Saas Fee in Switzerland over Thanksgiving. Gretchen is coming off an impressive season including winning four of five Chevrolet U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix Olympic qualifying events on her way to the silver medal in Torino.

The Jr. World Championship Women's Softball Team took home second-place honors for the team award. The USA Junior Women’s team clinched a top berth at the 2007 Jr. World Championships in Poland after claiming the first-place trophy at the ISF Jr. Women’s Pan American qualifier in Puerto Rico. The team hit an outstanding .529 outscoring opponents 113-2, with the pitching staff giving up no earned runs in 50 innings played.

The Red, White and Blue turned in a perfect 10-0 record, shutting out nine of ten opponents. The team struck hard and fast only going a complete seven innings in one game, with the other nine ending in run-rules. The team combined for 127 hits with 48 extra base hits. The pitching staff allowed no earned runs, giving up only 14 hits and combined to throw five no-hitters. Team USA faced hometown favorite Puerto Rico in the Championship game, shutting them out 7-0 in five innings.

The Aileen Sormunen Curling Rink took third place for the team vote. The Rink captured the highly competitive Labatt’s Duluth Cashspiel, a World curling tour event, Nov. 12, at the Duluth (Minn.) Curling Club, finishing with a 5-1 record. This was the first major tour event win for the young curling team, with an average age of just 19 years old. Skip Aileen Sormunen (Duluth, Minn.) led teammates Courtney George (Duluth, Minn., 2006 Olympian), Molly Bonner (Virginia, Minn.) and Jordan Moulton (Highland Park, Ill.) to a 3-1 round-robin record against top U.S. teams and strong Canadian competition. The Sormunen rink defeated Michelle Boland of Canada in the final, 9-5.

Results (first place votes in parentheses)

Men
1. Evan Lysacek 21 (4)
2. James Blake 19 (4)
3. Jared Lawrence 17 (4)

Also receiving first-place votes: Dave McKienzie (volleyball), Myles Porter (blind judo) and Andy Potts (triathlon).

Women
1. Katie Uhlaender 24 (6)
2. Randi Miller 21 (3)
3. Gretchen Bleiler 20 (3)

Also receiving first-place votes: Natalie Darwitz (ice hockey), Elini Koutsilianos (taekwondo) and Maggie Viefhaus (softball).

Team
1. Kelci Bryant/Ariel Rittenhouse, Diving 26 (3)
2. Jr. World Championship Women's Softball Team 21 (3)
3. The Aileen Sormunen Rink, Curling 18 (3)

Also receiving first-place votes: Bryan Brothers (tennis), U.S. Women's Taekwondo Team, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (figure skating - ice dance).