After taking time off to give birth, two local Catholic high school graduates --- mainstays of the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medal softball teams --- have returned to the roster for the Olympic competition beginning this week in Beijing.

Between them, pitcher Lisa Fernandez (St. Joseph, Lakewood) and catcher Stacey Nuveman (St. Lucy's Priory, Glendora) have compiled a staggering array of records at the collegiate and international level in their careers. Both had led their high school teams to CIF titles before gaining All-American honors at UCLA.

Nuveman, 30, set collegiate records for homeruns and at Sydney in 2000 hit a crucial homerun to beat China that pushed the U.S. toward their gold medal. Married in 2003, the former St. Lucy's ASB president took 2007 off to give birth to a son, and has rejoined the U.S. team.

Fernandez, 37, starred on the 1996 gold medal team as well, and set an Olympic single-game record with 25 strikeouts. The daughter of Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrant parents, she married in 2002 and had a son in 2005 before rejoining the national team this year as a replacement player.