COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) today named Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner and fencer Sada Jacobson its June Athletes of the Month.  The USA Softball Women's National Team earned the USOC Team of the Month award for June.    Gardner (Afton, Wyo.) won the gold medal at 120 kg/286 lbs. at the USA Wrestling World Team Trials June 20-22, defeating 2002 World Champion Dremiel Byers two matches to one.  To earn the right to face Byers, Gardner had to win a two-day Challenge Tournament.  In the Challenge's championship match, Gardner defeated Corey Farkas, 3-1, in overtime and avenged his 2003 U.S. Nationals loss to Farkas.  Prior to facing Farkas, Gardner defeated Paul Devlin by a 6-0 margin. Gardner is back in the No. 1 position in the nation in his weight class.    Jacobson (Dunwoody, Ga.) made fencing history in June, winning two World Cup competitions in a row, and became the first U.S. woman, and only the second U.S. fencer, ever to be ranked No. 1 in the world.  Jacobson won gold at the New York City "A" Gran Prix World Cup and was a key member of the U.S. squad that earned gold in the women's sabre team event.  A week later, Jacobson won her second gold at the women's "A" World Cup in Cuba.  Both World Cups were Olympic trials and Jacobson now is in position to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games.    The USA Softball Women's National Team picked up where it left off in 2002, dominating its international competition.  The USA opened the 2003 season with a 14-0 win over Canada before traveling to the U.S. Cup in Honolulu, where the team posted a perfect 7-0 record to capture its third consecutive U.S. Cup title.  Over its first eight games, the USA batted .435 as a team, while holding opponents to a mere .096 batting average.  The squad outscored opponents 74-5, averaged 9.2 runs per game and averaged nearly two home runs a game for a .700 slugging percentage.      Team members are: Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.), Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.), Jamie Clark (Tustin, Calif.), Lisa Fernandez (Long Beach, Calif.), Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.), Amanda Freed (Cypress, Calif.), Nicole Giordano (Saugus, Calif.), Keira Goerl (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Lori Harrigan (Las Vegas, Nev.), Lovieanne Jung (Fountain Valley, Calif.), Nina Lindberg (Anaheim Hills, Calif.), Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.), Tairia Mims (Tucson, Ariz.), Leah O'Brien-Amico (Chino Hills, Calif.), Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, Calif.), Catherine Osterman (Houston, Texas), Jenny Topping (Whittier, Calif.) and Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.).    Runner-up in the close balloting among the women nominated for Athlete of the Month honors was USA Softball's Lisa Fernandez, who continues to prove why she is considered the best softball player in the world.  She started the 2003 season by leading the Women's National Team to a perfect 7-0 record and its third consecutive U.S. Cup title.  For the tournament, Fernandez batted .875 (7 for 8) with two runs scored and seven RBI.  In the circle, she posted a 2-0 record and didn't allow a run in 14 innings of work.  She struck out 22 batters, walked only one and allowed just three hits.  In the gold medal game against Canada, Fernandez tossed her first no-hitter of the season, striking out 11 of the 22 batters she faced and leading the USA to a 6-0 victory.    For the second consecutive month, Sara Hildebrand (St. Paul, Minn.) finished third in the voting among the female candidates.  In June, Hildebrand continued her phenomenal performances on the national and international scene.  At the 2003 Speedo National Diving Championships June 24-29, she was first on 3-meter, synchro 3-meter and synchro platform, and second on platform.  She now has earned six national titles as well as her seventh berth on the national team.  She also qualified to the Pan American Games Team in every event.  At the Italian Grand Prix, she was second on platform, and was second on synchro platform at the FINA Super Final in Tultitlan, Mexico.    Vote totals among the top male Athlete of the Month nominees also were extremely close.  Finishing in the second spot was Jason Parker (Cusseta, Ga.).  Parker triumphed over more than 100 of the world's best air rifle shooters to win a gold medal and set a new world record at the Munich World Cup June 9-16.  In the first round, he shot a near-perfect 599 out of a possible 600 to tie Konstantin Prikhodtchenko of Russia.  His 103.5 in the finals was golden, and his score of 702.5 is one-tenth of a point better than the previous world record, set in 2001 by Norway's Leif Steiner.  Parker also walked away with two gold medals at the 2003 USA Shooting National Championships June 18-29.  He finished with a score of 1,293.7 out of a possible 1,309 for the Air Rifle win, and then swept both days of the men's Three-Position Rifle competition with a score of 2,434.7.      Gymnast Paul Hamm (Waukesha, Wis.) was third in the men's balloting.  Hamm returned from a shoulder injury to repeat as U.S. All-Around Champion and win two individual event gold medals plus two silver medals at the U.S. Championships June 19-22 in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wis.  Hamm proved consistent on all six events, scoring a 113.325 for the victory over comeback kid Jason Gatson and five-time champion Blaine Wilson. With the win, Hamm secured one of two automatic berths on the U.S. World Championships Team. Hamm also repeated as pommel horse champion, added a second gold medal on the high bar, plus silver medals on the floor exercise and parallel bars.    Runner-up for Team of the Month honors was the doubles tennis duo of Bob and Mike Bryan (Camarillo, Calif.).  The Bryan twins won their first Grand Slam doubles championship at the 2003 French Open, defeating Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Paul Haarhuis in the final. The victory was the 11th career doubles title for the identical twins, breaking the previous record held by Tim and Tom Gullikson (also identical twins) for most doubles titles won by brothers.    Finishing in third place among the nominated teams was U.S. Association of Blind Athletes' Tandem Cycling, Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Karissa Whitsell (Eugene, Ore.).  Although they have only trained together for just over a year, Compton (pilot) and Whitsell (stoker) added the 200m time trial world record to their resumes at the 2003 Paralympic National Cycling Championships June 13-14.  The duo, who hold the International Paralympic Committee world record in the pursuit, staked their claim as the best tandem in the country, by also winning the sprint, kilo and pursuit events.  On June 1, Whitsell and Compton were named to the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes National Cycling Team and will compete at the upcoming 2003 International Blind Sports Association World Cycling Championships.      Results (first place points in parentheses)    MEN  1. Rulon Gardner 27 (18)  2. Jason Parker 24 (21)  3. Paul Hamm 11  Also receiving first-place votes: Vakhtang Iagorashvili, Chuck Jefferson, Keeth Smart and Mike Williams.    WOMEN  1. Sada Jacobson 31 (24)  2. Lisa Fernandez 28 (18)  3. Sara Hildebrand 10 (3)   Also receiving first-place votes: Alexis Hornbuckle, Michelle Kelly, Sara McMann and Laura Reback.    TEAM  1. USA Softball Women's National Team 27(21)  2. Bob and Mike Bryan 20 (15)  3. Tandem Cycling, U.S. Association of Blind Athletes 16 (3)  Also receiving first-place votes: Diving's Sara Hildebrand and Cassandra Cardinell and Rowing's Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (Greg Ruckman and Steve Tucker)