All three UA women who competed at the World Games in Birmingham in July took home medals for the United States.
Alabama All-Americans Haylie McCleney and Montana Fouts helped lead USA Softball to win the team’s third-straight gold medal at the World Games.
McCleney, who played for the Crimson Tide from 2013-2016, was named the World Games MVP, batting 8-for-15 (.533) across five games with four runs scored, five RBIs and a pair of doubles. She helped clinch USA’s spot in the gold medal game with a 3-for-3 day with three RBIs against Australia on Tuesday. A native of Morris, McCleney has been a member of Team USA since 2014 including last summer at the Tokyo Olympics.
Fouts made two appearances for Team USA, striking out 13 batters across 5.0 shutout innings pitched with just two baserunners allowed. This year marked Fouts’ first selection to the national team’s roster, previously trying out in the fall of 2019 after competing with the U19 team the previous summer, earning a third-place finish at the International Cup. Fouts is a three-time All-American with the Crimson Tide and will return to Tuscaloosa with one season of eligibility remaining in 2022-23.
On the water, UA alumna Anna Gay earned the silver medal in women’s trick water ski.
Gay is a nine-time gold medalist in the Water Ski World Championships. The native of Winter Garden, Florida, began skiing at age 2 and competing at 6. She competed for four years on the UA water ski team, SkiBama, before graduating with her degree in human environmental sciences in May 2022. During her time at UA, she won two world trick titles and two under-22 world titles for tricks. She is a two-time National Collegiate Water Ski Association trick champion. Gay currently lives in Florida and is a licensed real estate agent.
The World Games is a multisport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The UA athletes were among 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries competing in this year’s World Games.