August 25, 2004

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The real dream teams

by Rick Eymer

Women's softball has replaced men's basketball as America's "Dream Team," by winning its third straight Olympic Gold Medal in convincing fashion.

Stanford grad Kerri Walsh, and her teammate Misty May, will be playing for gold in the women's beach volleyball final and Stanford grad Julie Foudy and her women's soccer teammates will also be playing for gold.

Walsh and May needed just 41 minutes to defeat fellow Americans Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs, 21-18, 21-15 on Monday to advance to Tuesday night's Gold Medal match against Brazil's Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede. The Brazilian pair defeated Australia in Monday's other semifinal.

The women's soccer team beat Germany, 2-1, on Monday to advance to Thursday's championship match against Brazil, who beat Sweden, 1-0, in the other semifinal.

Foudy, who played 65 minutes, took the first shot on goal, in the ninth minute. Nineteen-year-old Heather O'Reilly, the youngest member of the team, scored the game winner in the 99th minute. Kristine Lilly also scored for Team USA.

Jessica Mendoza, who holds several Stanford softball records, was in the middle of the celebration pile after Team USA defeated Australia, 5-1, on Monday to win the softball competition in Athens, Greece.

Mendoza, who played left field, finished the Olympics with a .250 batting average (5-for-20) with a double, triple, five RBI and six runs scored. She flawlessly handled five chances in the field.

She was also one of the first to reach winning pitcher Lisa Fernandez, who tossed her glove in the air just as she was getting mobbed by her teammates.

"We came over here with gold medals on our minds and we weren't going home with anything else," said American pitcher Cat Osterman.

The United States dominated play thanks to the pitching staff, who allowed one run in nine games and were unscored upon the first 54 2-3 innings. The Americans outscored their opponents 51-1 in running their winning streak to 79 games against international competition.

The pitchers - Fernandez, Osterman, Jennie Finch and Lori Harrigan - allowed 18 hits, walked 10 and struck out 55 in 56 innings.

"This is the greatest feeling in the world," American Kelly Kretschman said. "We made it look easy but every game was tough."

American Crystl Bustos hit two homers, and had a record five in the tournament, in the Gold Medal game.

"We dominated from beginning to end," catcher Stacey Nuveman said. "It was a total team effort. We were led by Lisa Fernandez but everybody had their day, had their chance to shine. I cannot be more excited about the way this ended, with a gold medal around our necks."

Stanford coach John Rittman, an assistant for the Olympic team, also brought home a gold medal.
Women's swimming

Stanford grad Jenny Thompson finished her Olympic career the way she began it - with a medal.

Thompson, competing in her fourth Olympics, helped the United States win a silver medal in the 400 meter medley relay. It was her 12th medal, which includes eight gold medals, and the most by any American Olympian.

"This is my last Olympic swim race," Thompson said. "The whole week has been a little nostalgic."

Stanford grad Tara Kirk was also awarded a medal as part of the medley relay. She swam the breast in one of the qualifying heats.
Women's water polo

Stanford grad Jackie Frank played her best game in the goal yet, recording 14 saves as the United States advanced into the semifinals with an 8-4 victory over Russia on Friday.

The Americans were scheduled to meet Italy in Tuesday's semifinal, with the winner reaching the Gold Medal game.

Greece and defending Olympic champion Australia met in the other semifinal.

Frank recorded 14 saves in a game for the first time since also saving 14 in a semifinal win over Canada in the 2002 World Cup.

"Jackie played well the entire game," USA coach Guy Baker said. "All the teams have great shooters and great centers."

Stanford grad Brenda Villa scored twice, while Stanford grad Margie Dingledein also scored.
Women's volleyball

Team USA defeated Cuba, 25-22, 25-12, 25-19, to remain in medal contention on the final day of pool play.

Stanford grad Logan Tom had a team-high 19 points, including 15 kills, to lead the Americans.

The United States, which also features Stanford grad Ogonna Nnamani, was slated to meet top-seeded Brazil in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday.
Men's volleyball

The United States surprised Brazil, 25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, to advance into Wednesday's quarterfinals against Greece.

Stanford grad Gabe Gardner had two points in the match, including a kill.
Men's water polo

Team USA's hopes of playing for a medal ended Monday when Serbia and Montenegro downed the Americans, 9-4, in the final round of pool play.

The Americans will play for seventh on Friday.

Stanford senior Tony Azevedo, the tournament's leading scorer, was 0-for-2 in the game. He was held scoreless for the first time in the Olympics.

"As the shooter on the team, of course they're going to come out and press me a little bit more," Azevedo said. "It's my job to get open and for the most part that didn't happen today. We're pretty upset, pretty bummed out. It's the same as last Olympics, you get your hopes high and it doesn't happen."
Track and field

Palo Alto resident Nicole Teter, who trains at Stanford, finished fourth in her semifinal heat of the women's 800 meters, missing reaching the finals by .02 of a second.

"I was too tight," Teter said. "It was too fast for me. The goal each round is to qualify. The crowd was incredible; the ambience fantastic."

Stanford grad Grant Robison also saw his Olympic bid end in the semifinals of the men's 1,500 meters. He finished 23rd in 3:47.03.

"It went out a little faster than we planned on," Robison said. "It was an awesome experience just being out there. I was glad for the chance to run here. I wasn't too surprised about the race. I've been injured a lot this year. I wasn't able to compete like I would have liked to in that kind of race."

Robison qualified for the semifinals because he was obstructed in the first round.

"I've never fallen before," he said. "There was just too many feet and not enough track. There was nowhere to go."

Three other former Stanford athletes will start competition on Wednesday. Jonathon Riley will begin qualifying in the men's 5,000 meters while Toby Stevenson will compete in the men's pole vault. Malindi Elmore, competing for Canada, runs in the women's 1,500 meters.

Stanford grad Jackie Edwards, competing for the Bahamas, was scheduled to begin the long jump competition on Tuesday.
Women's wrestling

Stanford grad Patricia Miranda defeated France's Angelique Berthenet, 12-4, to win the bronze medal in the 105.5-pound weight class.
Women's rowing

With Stanford junior Samantha Magee in the boat, the United States' Women's Eight earned a Silver Medal by going 6:19.56 in the final race, finishing two seconds behind Gold Medalist Romania.
Synchronized swimming

Stanford freshman Sara Lowe was part of the United States duet event which finished third in the preliminary round. Lowe will also compete in the team event.

Stanford freshman Courtney Stewart is a member of the Canadian team, which placed sixth in duet.
Triathlon

Former Stanford swimmer Barb Lindquist was scheduled to begin competition on Wednesday.

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