On the Road to the Olympics : Festival: More than 3,000 athletes in 37 sports have come together to show their stuff and, they hope, pave the way to stardom at future Games.

Traditionally, a large number of athletes who participate in the U. S. Olympic Festival go on to participate in the Olympic Games.

The Festival, after all, is designed as a training ground for the Games.

So, as this year’s Festival begins in earnest today at 33 venues in and around the Twin Cities, two questions arise:

Who? And when?

U.S. Olympic Committee officials are quick to point out that close to 90% of the U.S. team that competed in Seoul in 1988 had participated in Festivals during the three years leading up to the Games.

And Mary Lou Retton was just another cherubic gymnast before the 1981 Festival in Syracuse, N.Y., where she won two medals. Three years later, in Los Angeles, she was vaulting into the nation’s television rooms as an Olympic champion.

One of the more than 3,000 athletes gathered here to compete in 37 sports during the next 10 days just might be next up on the Wheaties box.

Natasha Kuchiki and Todd Sand have better chances than many. They are the top-ranked team in pairs figure skating.

Kuchiki, a 13-year-old from Canoga Park, and Sand, a 26-year-old from Thousand Oaks, lead a list of 62 athletes and eight coaches from the Valley region who are scheduled to take part in the Festival.

The region’s largest contingent--no surprise here--is in men’s field hockey. Twenty local players are listed among the four 15-man squads. Nine are on the South squad, which is also the Field Hockey Assn. of America national team.

Included on the West squad are Binh, Sammy and Tommy Hoang, brothers from Westlake Village.

The other athletes from the Valley region are split among 14 sports. And not all will be playing for the West or the South.

In some sports the Festival uses a random selection process--unofficially referred to as the eenie-meenie-minie-moe method--to determine team rosters. In no instance is this more evident than in men’s soccer, where even a family has been split.

Cameron and Matt Rast, identical twins from Simi Valley, will face off at Augsburg College today when the North plays the West in soccer. Cam earned All-American honors and Matt was the most improved player on the University of Santa Clara team that reached the NCAA Division I national championship match.

Similarly, in men’s volleyball, teammates have been divided.

Coley Kyman and Ken Lynch, two of the top hitters from the Cal State Northridge team, will play for the North. Gary Reznick, CSUN’s freshman setter, is a member of the West squad.

In basketball, Dedan Thomas and Shon Tarver, Runnin’ Rebels-to-be at Nevada Las Vegas, are both on the West squad. Thomas, a point guard, signed with UNLV out of Taft High but failed to meet the school’s entrance requirement. He spent the past season at Antelope Valley College.

Tarver, who figures to play shooting guard for the Rebels, did a little bit of everything for Santa Clara High, leading the Saints to their second consecutive state championship.

Also on the West team is Lucious Harris, who enrolled at Cal State Long Beach last fall out of Cleveland High. He wound up the season as Big West Conference Freshman of the Year.

The most decorated local athlete from last year’s Festival, women’s weightlifter Diana Fuhrman, will defend three championships.

Fuhrman, a Simi Valley resident, made a sweep of the 67.5-kilogram (148 3/4-pound) classification, winning the snatch (181 3/4 pounds), clean-and-jerk (197 1/2 pounds) and all-around (379 1/4 pounds).

Table tennis player Carol Davidson of North Hollywood also won three medals last year, but not the one she wanted most. Davidson won a gold in doubles and bronze medals in the team and mixed-doubles events, but failed to make it out of the quarterfinals in singles.

Other local athletes who will be competing at the Festival for the second consecutive year include canoeists Joe Harper and Dave and Fred Spaulding, all from Ventura; and Jennifer Haase of Valencia, who was fourth all-around in rhythmic gymnastics last summer.

U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL ROSTER

A list of players from the Valley area competing in the U.S. Olympic Festival in Minneapolis.

PLAYER SCH/TOWN TEAM EVENT Tony Veney CSUN West Track coach M.Swerdling N. Hllywd West Baseball coach Tana Curtis Reseda Cycling coach Jeff Jones Thou Oaks West Field hockey Chris Hargett Ventura West Field hockey Roy Adler Nwbry Pk West Field hockey George Ross Santa Clrt Shooting Bob Takano Van Nuys West Weightlifting A. Lorraine Hart HS West Baseball Lucious Harris Cleve HS West Basketball Shon Tarver Oxnard HS West Basketball Dedan Thomas Ant Val JC West Basketball Joseph Harper Ventura South Canoe Dave Spaulding Ventura West Canoe Fred Spaulding Ventura West Canoe Scott Skellenger Thou Oaks East Cycling Andy Wagher Lancaster East Cycling Avi Friedlich Encino South Fencing Larry Amar Camarillo South Field hockey Mohammed Baraket Moorpark South Field hockey Eric Holtz Simi Val South Field hockey Jeff Horrocks Nwbry Pk South Field hockey Alvin Pagan Simi Val South Field hockey Matt Robbins Camarillo South Field hockey Mark Ruvulcaba Thou Oaks South Field hockey Taylor Trickle Camarillo South Field hockey Tom Vano Simi Val South Field hockey Don Goeser Thou Oaks West Field hockey Binh Hoang Wstlk Vil West Field hockey Sammy Hoang Wstlk Vil West Field hockey Tommy Hoang Wstlk Vil West Field hockey Jason Horrocks Nwbry Pk West Field hockey Jeremy McGuire Camarillo West Field hockey Bill Neff Simi Val West Field hockey James Rahn Simi Val West Field hockey Jim Sabelis Simi Val West Field hockey Brian Spencer Palmdale West Field hockey Scott Williams Thou Oaks West Field hockey Tish Walker Thou Oaks West Figure skating Richard Alexander Simi Val North Figure skating Natasha Kuchiki Cnga Pk West Figure skating Todd Sand Thou Oaks West Figure skating Polina Friedland Van Nuys West Gymnastics Jennifer Haase Valencia West Gymnastics Cameron Rast Simi Val North Soccer Matt Rast Simi Val West Soccer Craig Hampton Simi Val South Soccer Anthony Feuer Northridge East Soccer Cobi Jones Westlake West Soccer Barbara Jordan CSUN North Softball Barbara Booth Glendale South Softball Sheila Cornell Glendale East Softball Karen Walker UCLA East Softball Kristine Quance Northridge East Swimming Carol Davidson N. Hllywd North Table tennis Lan Vuong Reseda West Table tennis Denny Fercho Camarillo West Team handball Jim Hop Camarillo West Team handball Dan Irwin Glendale West Team handball Renee Brum Camarillo West Team handball Robin Landeros Camarillo West Team handball Natasha Pospich Wood Hills East Tennis Darcy Arreola CSUN Track Farron Fields Grnd Hills Track Percy Knox Ant Val HS Track Coley Kyman CSUN North Volleyball Ken Lynch CSUN North Volleyball John Ross Cnga Pk South Volleyball Gary Reznick CSUN West Volleyball Diana Fuhrman Simi Val West Weightlifting