April 20, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. -
Baseball
Colin Walsh's two-run homer in the 10th inning of a 5-3 victory at Oregon State on Saturday was Stanford's sixth win in its last at-bat. Walsh became the fifth different player to win a game for the Cardinal. Stanford features five players with at least 20 RBI this year, led by Walsh's 25.
Men's Gymnastics
Ryan Lieberman and Eddie Penev became the 13th and 14th Stanford men's gymnasts to capture individual national titles. This gives the program 23 titles among them. Lieberman won the parallel bars and Penev won the vault at the NCAA Individual Finals on Saturday in West Point, N.Y.
Women's Gymnastics
With Stanford competing in the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive year, the Cardinal will be able to draw on its collective experience in the meet, which takes place Thursday through Saturday in Gainesville, Fla. For seniors Carly Janiga and Blair Ryland, this will be their fourth time in an NCAA lineup. Returning All-Americans, Janiga and Ryland also are the only ones to have started in the Super Six finals. Altogether, Stanford has seven gymnasts with NCAA experience: Shelley Alexander, Danielle Ikoma, Allyse Ishino, Janiga, Nicole Pechanec, Ryland and Tenaya West.
Lacrosse
Stanford showed improved offense over the weekend in big wins over Oregon and Saint Mary's. The Cardinal scored 39 goals in two games on just 60 shots for a 65 percent shooting percentage. The efficiency of Stanford's shooting is something head coach Amy Bokker has made a point of addressing in practice in recent weeks.
Sailing
Stanford won its second Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference title on Sunday, beating USC by 14 points and qualifying for the coed national semifinals in May. Nick Dugdale and Justin Doane skippered the "A" division team to a third place divisional finish, crewing with Hannah Burroughs, while the "B" division squad of Peter Stemler and Katie Jewett won their division. This is the second straight weekend the Cardinal has won a conference title. The previous weekend, it won the PCCSC team championship for head coach John Vandemoer.
Softball
Senior Shannon Koplitz was outstanding for the Cardinal last weekend in Tucson, Ariz., despite the team being swept by Arizona. The New Orleans native led the team with four hits, including two doubles and a home run, to amass an impressive 1.125 slugging percentage. She also recorded a .600 on-base percentage and was 1.000 in the field. Stanford returns to The Farm this week, hosting San Jose State on Wednesday and Pac-10 foe UCLA, from Friday through Sunday at Smith Family Stadium.
Synchronized Swimming
The Cardinal captured second place at the 2010 U.S. Nationals in Huntersville, N.C., last weekend. Stanford won the team event with a combined score of 178.500. Seniors Debbie Chen and Taylor Durand ended their Cardinal careers by winning the duet national title.
Men's Tennis
The Pac-10 Championships get underway later this week in Ojai, Calif., as Bradley Klahn sets out to defend his titles in both singles and doubles. Last year, Klahn became the fourth player in school history to win both the Pac-10 singles and doubles championships in the same year, joining Alex O'Brien (1992), Sam Warburg (2005) and Matt Bruch (2007).
Women's Tennis
Stanford locked up at least a share of this year's Pac-10 title with a 5-2 win over California on April 17. In the process, the Cardinal extended its NCAA-record home winning streak to 161 and has not lost a dual match at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium since Feb. 27, 1999.
Men's Track and Field
Elliott Heath ran a personal best of 13:29.75 in the 5,000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays. The time moved him to sixth all-time at Stanford, which is significant considering the names on the list, including former Olympians Ian Dobson, Ryan Hall, Brad Hauser, Jonathon Riley and Grant Robison.
Women's Track and Field
Two-time NCAA qualifier Jaynie Goodbody won the hammer throw at the Woody Wilson Invitational hosted by UC Davis. The Cardinal senior had a toss of 182-11.
Men's Volleyball
Stanford coach John Kosty kept a secret from his team during its regular season finale at UC Irvine on Saturday night. Needing help to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title, Stanford got it when Cal State Northridge beat BYU, with the final point coming as Stanford was opening its fourth set against Irvine. Kosty heard the result, but not wanting to distract his team, did not tell anyone that Stanford was now playing for the championship. The Cardinal lost the fourth set, but got a superb serving performance from Brad Lawson in the fifth to win the title. Still, the players did not know they were champions until after the team handshakes when the BYU result was announced over the public address system, sparking a wild celebration among the Cardinal players.
Women's Water Polo
Stanford collected its 10th consecutive victory over rival Cal in dramatic fashion on Saturday when Jessica Steffens scored with one second left to give the Cardinal an 8-7 victory in the Big Splash at Avery Aquatic Center. Stanford has not lost to Cal since 2000, matching a streak by the Stanford women's gymnastics team for the longest on-campus winning streak against the Golden Bears. The winning play, drawn up by coach John Tanner, worked as Kelsey Holshouser played the ball straight to Steffens, who turned and fired through the California defense and into the lower-left corner of the net past Golden Bear goalie Stephanie Peckham, and bedlam ensued in the Stanford half of the stands.