Senior class Senior class (April 23, 2003)leads the way

Stanford plays host to the MPSF tournament, as tuneup for defending its NCAA championship

by Rick Eymer

Jackie Frank became a goalkeeper because no one else wanted to play in the goal, and because she was the only one who could throw the ball past halfcourt when she was 10 years old.

Thirteen years later, and she's still doing things in the goal that no one else can do. She's one of the nation's best goalkeepers at any level and could be representing the United States in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

While the Olympics remain in the future, Frank and three other Stanford seniors are concentrating on the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament that begins Friday at 10 a.m. at the Avery Aquatic Center.

The nationally second-ranked Cardinal (9-1, 17-2) earned the top seed in the conference tournament following its 11-2 victory over San Jose State last Friday.

Stanford opens play at 4:45 p.m. Friday against the winner of an earlier match between No. 8 San Jose State and No. 9 UC Santa Barbara.

If all goes well, the Cardinal would play a semifinal match at 6 p.m. on Saturday and the championship at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday.

USC, which tied Stanford for the MPSF regular-season title, is seeded No. 2, followed by UCLA at No. 3 and Long Beach State, which handed the Cardinal their lone conference loss, at No. 4. California is No. 5, followed by No. 6 Hawaii and No. 7 San Diego State. UC Irvine is No. 10 and Pacific is No. 11.

Frank, along with Menlo School grad Julie Gardner, Brenda Villa and Nicole Huszcz, was honored as part as Senior Night before the match against the Spartans.

Villa led the Cardinal with three goals, while Gardner added two and Huszcz one. Frank recorded nine saves before giving way to Amanda Matuk in the fourth period.

"I've been playing so long with Julie and Nicole that it seems weird we're playing our final year together," said Frank.

Frank and Villa - both members of the U.S. National Team - came to Stanford in the same year, and both visited the campus on the same recruiting trip. Their relationship goes back to their age-group days in Southern California, even before Frank was sent into the net by coach Tony Martino, who currently coaches at Wilson High in Long Beach and also coach Frank at Los Alamitos High.

"She's an awesome player," said Frank. "She has an amazing shot, she catches any pass and she sees the pool so well."

Villa and Frank also decided they would attend the same college, and would phone each other nightly to discuss the situation. Stanford was always their No. 1 choice.

Villa sat out her first two years to compete with the national team and then play on the 2000 Olympic team which won the silver medal. Frank used a redshirt year in 1999 to workout with the national team.

Villa and Frank likely will remain teammates for the foreseeable future, as both are vital members of Team USA.

They're part of the reason why Senior Night was unlike any other. Villa was the National Player of the Year in 2001, while Frank earned that honor last year and Gardner will probably earn her third All-American honor this season.

"That's pretty rare," said Stanford coach John Tanner. "Not only to have two people who have had such glowing careers in college but also internationally. Brenda has been part of several world titles and both her and Jackie are potentially vital parts of the Olympic team."

Gardner and Huszcz were both freshmen in 2000.

"Nicole has been an important part of the team," Tanner said. "She's a solid defender and a good driver. In the four years she's been here she's been overshadowed by others but she came here after playing with the U.S. National youth program out of high school. She's a great leader and the younger players look up to her."

This year's group of seniors have helped Stanford establish itself as one of the top programs in the nation. They've participated in the only two NCAA championship games ever contested and could very well defend their national title this season.

"Nicole and Julie have been great leaders away from the pool," said Tanner. "Jackie and Brenda have been real sources of inspiration in the pool. They have forced the team to operate at a faster tempo. That will be one of their legacies: that the whole group sees and reads things faster than most college players."

Frank hasn't allowed herself to ponder the Olympics just yet. She's more interested in getting the Cardinal to another championship game.

"These next few weeks are very important," she said. "We need to play consistently well. Every day we just want to play like a championship team."

The Olympics are one of her goals, and she took a big step toward that over the fall when she competed with the U.S. Senior National Team at the FINA World Cup in Perth, Australia. She was reluctant to miss any more school but wound up with the best goals-against average in the tournament, and she competed against the world's best goalkeepers.

"I didn't want to take off another year of school," said Frank. "I needed to go to school. I couldn't handle that much water polo at the time. The first time I didn't get to experience what Stanford had to offer."

Frank didn't have any expectations when she began playing with Team USA this fall but she certainly came away with good thoughts.

"I never think about accolades for myself," said Frank. "I was just hoping the team would play well. It was a great experience and now I know I can compete at that level."

When she first began playing those many years ago she never dreamed she would be where she is now: on the verge of another national collegiate title, and a realistic shot at competing in the 2004 Olympics.

"I was a field player but I had long arms and had that mentality that if it got into the net I could brush it off," said Frank of her water polo beginnings. "I never realized I would end up on the senior team. Everything progressed slowly."

Frank, however, picked things up quickly and now has established herself as one of the world's best.