Howie Kalter

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell University men's water polo junior Howie Kalter (Durham, N.H./Phillips Academy Andover) has been selected to play in the U.S. Men's National Team Trials Series later this month in Santa Ana, Calif. The event will take place March 13-14 at Santa Ana High School.

Athletes chosen from the National Team Trials Series will eventually be placed among the Senior "A", Senior "B" and Junior National Team squads, filling the pipeline of athletes that will make it to the 2012 Olympics in London.

Kalter, who led the Bison with a career-high 56 goals last fall, already made it through the preliminary tryout process, which took place in several regions across the country last month and trimmed the list of players down to 112 from an initial group of more than 160 competitors.

Next week's National Team Trials Series will feature those 112 athletes divided up over eight teams to showcase their talents. Kalter will be a member of the College Mixed team, along with athletes that attend Cal, UC Irvine, Stanford, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State. Kalter's only East Coast teammate is Navy's Stephen Ray.

The third, and final, round of the National Team Trials Series will take place April 10-11. Athletes will be selected based on their play next week in Santa Ana.

During his time playing next week, Kalter will have a familiar face on the pool deck as Bison head coach John Abdou will serve on the College Mixed team coaching staff. Additionally, Abdou was recently selected as the Olympic Development Program Eastern Region Technical Director. In that role he is responsible for running camps and the selection of the Junior, Cadet and Youth National Teams.

Release courtesy Bucknell Athletic Communications