October 27, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Olympians lead Stanford women swimmers to opening victory

by Rick Eymer

The Stanford women's swimming team only needed two of their three Olympians to get its season started on the right note.

Freshman Caroline Bruce won three events in her first collegiate meet, and junior Dana Kirk won twice to lead the Cardinal past host Hawaii, 180-120, on Saturday.

"It was really great for Caroline Bruce to get off to a good start in her collegiate career," Stanford coach Richard Quick said. "She is trying to help us fill some very big shoes in Tara Kirk in the breaststroke, and she looks like she's up for the challenge. It will really help our team if she can perform well."

Quick was an assistant coach the United States Olympic women's swim team. Bruce and Kirk both swam in Greece, as did junior Kristen Caverly, who did not swim in Hawaii.

Bruce recorded the only NCAA "A" qualifying standard of the meet, winning the 100-yard breast with a time of 1:02.00. She reached the NCAA "B" mark in both her 200 breast (2:14.77) and 200 IM (2:02.47) wins.

Her effort in the 100 breast already places Bruce eighth among all-time Stanford performers in the event. Cardinal grad Tara Kirk holds the American record at 58.41.

Bruce's time in the 200 breast is also eighth among Stanford swimmers all-time.

Dana Kirk recorded NCAA "B" times in both of her victories, a 54.81 in the 100 fly and 2:00.63 in the 200 fly.

"Dana Kirk came up with her usual outstanding performances in both fly events," Quick said. "It was a good first meet of the season for her."

Lacey Boutwell (200 free), Lauren Costella (1,000 free) and Desiree Stahley (500 free) also raced to victory.

Boutwell had NCAA "B" marks with her 200 free win (1:48.95), as well as her second-place showing in the 100 free (51.05).

Stahley recorded her first career win with a time of 4:53.15 in the 500 free, while Costella swam the 1,000 free in 10:02.84.

"I was fairly pleased with our first meet of the season," Quick said. "It will help us get ready for the challenges we face in our next meet and beyond."

Stanford travels to Texas for a tri-meet with the sixth-ranked Longhorns and No. 13 USC on Friday.
Women's soccer

With four matches remaining to play, beginning with home matches against Oregon on Friday night at 5 p.m. and Oregon State on Sunday at noon, Stanford looks to move up in the tightly bunched Pac-10 standings.

After splitting with the Los Angeles schools, losing to host UCLA, 1-0, on Friday and beating host USC, 1-0, on Sunday, the Cardinal (2-2-1, 10-4-2) find themselves in the middle of the pack.

That doesn't mean much though, as nine of the 10 teams in the conference have at least two wins, and leader UCLA (4-2, 11-5) has two losses in the single round-robin schedule.

Senior Marcie Ward scored a goal late in the first half to help 14th-ranked Stanford beat USC and send the Cardinal into this weekend on a winning note. Junior Leah Tapscott assisted on the goal.

Senior goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart recorded four saves in picking up the shutout.

Barnhart had a season-high 10 saves in the loss to No. 6 UCLA, which broke through with less than four minutes remaining with the winning goal.
Men's soccer

While the Pac-10 title hopes are slim, 17th-ranked Stanford still faces a stiff test the remainder of the season as it tries to return to the NCAA tournament after missing out a year ago.

The Cardinal (1-2-2, 6-3-5) lost to No. 6 UCLA, 2-1, on Friday night, ending a scoreless streak against the Bruins at eight, but extending their losing streak to seven against them.

Matt Janusz gave Stanford a 1-0 lead over the Bruins after scoring in the 31st minute on a free kick from 25 yards out.

The Cardinal faces a crucial test on Friday, hosting No. 4 Washington (3-0-1, 10-3-2) at 7:30 p.m.

Stanford also meets No. 8 UC Santa Barbara and No. 18 California this year.
Men's tennis

Junior KC Corkery advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw at the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships with a three-set win over Cal's Ken Nakahara on Sunday.

Corkery beat Nakahara, 6-7, 6-0, 7-5.

The top-seeded doubles tandem of Corkery and senior Sam Warburg qualified for the semifinals with an 8-1 win over San Francisco's Axel Elvik and Timo Kienle in third round action, and beating Cal's Lennart Maack and Dean Wallace, 8-4.
Women's tennis

Stanford's Alice Barnes will meet California's Suzi Babos on Thursday at 1 p.m. for the title of the Wilson/ITA Regional championships at Taube Tennis Center.

Barnes advanced to the finals with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Washington's Dea Sumantri, while Babos defeated Stanford's Erin Burdette, 6-2, 6-2.

In the quarterfinals, Barnes beat Oregon's Dominika Dieskovam 6-3, 6-4, while Burdette downed Sacramento State's Margarita Karnauka, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Barnes and Burdette won the doubles title by defeating Fresno State's Courtney Jantz and Lucia Sainz, 9-7, Monday. In the semifinals, Barnes and Burdette downed Cardinal freshmen teammates Leila Hodzic, a Pinewood grad, and Whitney Deason, 8-1.

Hodzic and Deason reached the semifinals in doubles with a victory over Pacific's Katharina Heil and Vana Mrazovic, 8-4.
Men's water polo

Tony Azevedo (3-0, 15-2) scored five goals, including four in the first period, as second-ranked Stanford beat seventh-ranked UC San Diego, 15-7, in a nonconference game on Sunday.

Stanford beat No. 8 Pepperdine, 12-3, in a MPSF match on Saturday as Azevedo and Peter Varellas each scored three goals.

Stanford faces a big weekend on the road, meeting top-ranked UCLA on Saturday at noon before visiting UC Santa Barbara on Sunday at noon. Women's volleyball

Stanford beat Washington State, but lost to top-ranked Washington over the weekend to fall into a second-place tie with USC following the first half of Pac-10 action.

The Cardinal (7-2, 15-5) heads to Berkeley for a match with California on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Stanford lost to Washington, 30-16, 31-29, 30-22, on Saturday night as senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani recorded 14 kills.

Jennifer Hucke added 13 kills and four blocks while Katie Goldhahn and Courtney Schultz each had 10 digs.

Nnamani had 14 kills in Stanford's 30-17, 30-19, 30-19 win over the Cougars. Kristin Richards added 11 kills while Courtney Schultz led the match with 15 digs, followed by Bryn Kehoe's 12 digs.
Men's golf

Stanford shot a 280 on the final day of competition at the Nelson Invitational to tie for fourth with a three-round total of 844 at the Stanford Golf Course.

New Mexico won the tournament by five strokes over UNLV (835) with a two-over par 830. Rounding out the top five were Georgia State (837), Stanford (844) and Missouri (844).

The Cardinal were led by Kyle Gentry who tied for seventh with a 208 after recording back-to-back par 69's. Freshman Rob Grube fired a two-under par 67 on the final day to move into a tie for ninth with a 210.
Field hockey

Stanford (0-5, 6-10) dropped a 2-1 decision to visiting Pacific on Saturday in its final home match of the season on Senior Day.

Eleanor Morgan, the lone senior, gave Stanford a 1-0 lead late in the first half.

"It was disappointing to lose this game, especially after coming out so strong," Stanford coach Lesley Irvine said. "But we were inconsistent today and although we created a lot of offensive opportunities, we had trouble finishing."

Stanford completes the season at No. 14 California (12-4, 4-1 NorPac) on Saturday.
Women's crew

Stanford finished 11th out of 35 collegiate entries at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday.

Stanford is entered in Saturdays Head of the American on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova.

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