COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) today named and Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner and triathlete Sheila Taormina May Athletes of the Month.     Gardner (Cascade, Colo.) won the Championships Series at 120 kg in Greco-Roman wrestling at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling in Indianapolis, Ind., May 21-23, to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games. He battled his archrival and friend, 2002 World Champion Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo.), in the finals. Gardner won the series in two straight matches, both 2-1 overtime referee decisions, and avenged a 3-1 loss to Byers in the finals of the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev., in April.    To qualify for the finals series, Gardner won the Challenge Tournament in his weight class, defeating Corey Farkas and Paul Devlin.     U.S. Men's National Ice Hockey Team goaltender Ty Conklin (Anchorage, Alaska) placed second in the men's category. Conklin donned a Team USA sweater for the first time at this year's IIHF Men's World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic, April 28-May 9. On his way to being named the tournament's most outstanding goaltender, Conklin posted an undefeated 4-0-1 record. He stopped all but 10 of the 152 shots he faced and registered a 2.00 goals-against average. His .934 save percentage was good for third-best among World Championship netminders.    Maurice Greene (Granada Hills, Calif.) won the Verizon men's 100m at the Peyton Jordan U.S. Open in Stanford, Calif., May 31, and finished third in the men's voting. He blistered the track by running history's second-fastest time under any conditions with his windy 9.78 seconds performance. Greene's time put him .13 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Justin Gatlin. Greene, who owns the two fastest wind-legal times in the world this year, won the men's 100m at the Home Depot Invitational, May 22, with a windy time of 9.86 seconds to beat Darvis Patton by .10 seconds and has returned to his dominant sprinting form that he displayed 1997-2001.     Among the women, on May 9, Taormina (Minneola, Fla.) won the ITU World Triathlon Championships in Madiera, Portugal. With the victory, she also earned a spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team. Among the athletes Taormina defeated were all three members of the Australian Women's Olympic Team, Olympic team members from several other countries, and her U.S. teammate Barb Lindquist, who is ranked No. 1 in the world. Taormina is now ranked No. 2 in the world.    Sprinter Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas) was the runner-up in the women's balloting. The University of Texas sophomore broke her own American junior and school record in a world-leading time of 50.49 seconds in the women's 400m during the preliminary round at the NCAA MidWest Regional Championships in College Station, Texas, May 28. She won the finals in the 400m on May 29 in a time of 50.66 seconds. Richards also helped the Longhorn women's 4x100m relay team capture gold and qualified for the national meet with a 43.34 seconds clocking. She was voted Big 12 Outdoor Female Performer of the Year for the second consecutive season.    Third in the women's voting was swimmer Katie Hoff (Abingdon, Md.). Hoff posted the fastest time in the 400m individual medley by an American in three years and the second fastest in more than a decade. The 14-year-old won "swimming's decathlon" in 4:39.82, breaking Summer Sanders' 12-year-old meet record at the Santa Clara International, May 22.    Not placing in the top three, but receiving at least one first place vote, was wrestler Toccara Montgomery (Cleveland, Ohio), who captured the 72 kg/158.5 pounds spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, beating two-time World Champion Kristie Marano in the finals.    The USOC Team of the Month honor was awarded to the U.S. Men's National Ice Hockey Team, which earned the bronze medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) Men's World Championships, April 28-May 9, in Prague, Czech Republic. It was the first time Team USA earned a podium finish in this event since 1996 and earned an automatic berth for Team USA at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The U.S. posted two shutout victories, including a quarterfinal win over the tournament hosts, the Czech Republic. The U.S. and Slovakia skated to a 0-0 tie after 70 minutes before four Americans scored in the shootout to secure the bronze medal for Team USA. Team members include Ty Conklin (Anchorage, Alaska/Edmonton Oilers), Mike Dunham (Johnson City, N.Y./New York Rangers), Alex Westlund (Flemington Village, N.J.), Hall Gill (Concord, Mass./Boston Bruins), Brett Hauer (Edina, Minn.), Jeff Jillson (North Smithfield, R.I./Buffalo Sabers), Paul Mara (Ridgewood, N.Y./Phoenix Coyotes), Aaron Miller (Buffalo, N.Y./Los Angeles Kings), Andy Roach (Mattawan Mich.), Bates Battaglia (Chicago, Ill./Washington Capitals), Dustin Brown (Ithaca, N.Y./Los Angeles Kings), Matt Cullen (Virginia, Minn./Florida Panthers), Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn./Buffalo Sabers), Mike Grier (Detroit, Mich./Buffalo Sabers), Adam Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich./Nashville Predators), Jeff Halpern (Potomac, Md./Washington Capitals), Andy Hilbert (Howell, Mich./Boston Bruins), Ryan Malone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Penguins), Richard Park (Seoul, South Korea/Minnesota Wild), Blake Sloan (Park Ridge, Ill./Dallas Stars) and Erik Westrum (Minneapolis, Minn./Phoenix Coyotes).    In second place among Team of the Month candidates was the U.S. Women's Goalball Team which successfully defended its title at the Malmo Ladies InterCup, May 28-31, in Sweden, with an 8-0 shutout over Finland. The team went undefeated during the tournament and reached the finals with a 2-1 semifinal win over Canada, the 2000 Paralympic Games gold medalist. Team captain Jennifer Armbruster (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the squad with 17 goals and was named Most Valuable Offensive Player for the tournament, while Lisa Banta (Boonton, N.J.) added six tallies. Jessie Lorenz (San Francisco, Calif.) and Robin Theryoung (Clarkson, Mich.) each had a goal during pool play. Center Nikki Buck (Paw Paw, Mich.) also had a phenomenal tournament, serving as the heart of a defense that gave up only five goals in six games. It was the team's final international tune-up before the Athens Paralympic Games. Also on the team was Asya Miller (Battle Creek, Mich.).    Finishing in third place for May was the synchronized diving tandem of Justin and Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.). The Dumais brothers won the gold medal in the men's synchronized three-meter event at the 2004 Speedo/FINA Diving Grand Prix, May 6-9, in The Woodlands, Texas. The win marked the duo's best finish in a major international competition and was the only gold medal won by the U.S. at the event.    Results (first place votes in parentheses)    MEN  1. Rulon Gardner, wrestling 31 (4)  2. Ty Conklin, ice hockey, 28 (8)  3. Maurice Greene, track and field, 26 (5)  Also receiving first place votes: Ali Anissipour, Karate and Gary Hines, Team Handball    WOMEN  1. Sheila Taormina, triathlon, 30 (6)  2. Sanya Richards, track and field, 18 (3)  3. Katie Hoff, swimming, 17 (2)  Also receiving first place votes: Gao Jun, Table Tennis and Toccara Montgomery, Wrestling     TEAM  1. U.S. Men's National Ice Hockey Team 35 (8)  2. U.S. Women's Goalball Team 27 (3)  3. Justin and Troy Dumais, diving, 26 (5)