Publication Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Olympians lead Stanford women swimmers to a sweep
Olympians lead Stanford women swimmers to a sweep
(January 26, 2005) Top-ranked Cardinal men also splash to sweep of Arizona State and ASU
by Rick Eymer
Kristen Caverly, Dana Kirk, and Caroline Bruce, three members of the United States Olympic women's swimming team last summer, each played key roles in Stanford's stunning 164-135 victory over previously undefeated and fourth-ranked Arizona on Saturday in Tucson.
Caverly, competing in just her second meet of the season, swam to victories in both the 100 breast (1:02.70) and 200 breast (2:14.59) while Kirk won both the 100 fly (55.02) and 200 fly (a season best 1:58.60). Bruce went 2:02.21 in winning the 200 IM.
"Kristen Caverly's performance in the breaststroke events were so important to our victory," Stanford coach Richard Quick said. "She allowed us to still dominate the breaststroke while being able to use Caroline Bruce where we needed her in the backstroke."
Bruce is Stanford's top breaststroker. She beat Hungarian Olympian Agnes Kovacs, a gold medalist in the 2000 Olympics, on Friday in Tempe in the 200 breast while swimming a 2:11.69, the fourth-best time in the nation this year.
Gunn High grad Ashlee Rosenthal won the 1-meter diving event and Lauren Costella won the 1,000 free in a season-best (by nearly 10 seconds) 9:52.64. The Stanford 400 medley relay team of Bruce, Kirk, Brooke Bishop and Lacey Boutwell won in 3:42.03, the eighth-fastest time in the nation this year.
Stanford also swam to victory against host Arizona State, 177-117, on Friday.
While Bruce and Kirk have been regular contributors this season, Caverly swam in just her third and fourth event of the year. She competed in the 200 back and 400 IM in Stanford's loss to Texas at the end of October.
Caverly doesn't swim often because of a back problem. She missed the NCAA meet last year as a result. Whenever she can swim, Stanford becomes a better team. Thanks to their depth, though, the eighth-ranked Cardinal (2-0, 4-1) are able to compete against any team.
"This was a great team effort to give us a tough win over a very good Arizona team," Quick said. "I really do think that our 400 medley relay team set the tone. They got us off to a good start, and we just went from there."
Stanford's depth will again help when No. 11 UCLA visits Avery Aquatic Center for a 1 p.m. meet on Friday, and No. 18 USC comes in on Saturday at noon.
Caverly led a one-two-three finish in both breaststroke events, giving Stanford a 32-6 advantage in the two races. Erica Liu and Katherine Bell finished 2-3 in the 100 and Bell and Kristen Gilbert were 2-3 in the 200.
Bruce added key third-place finishes in the 100 and 200 back in addition to her victory in the individual medley.
Kirk, Bruce and Boutwell were the keys to victory over Arizona State, each winning twice. Kirk won the 200 fly and the 100 fly (in a season best 54.50), while Bruce won the 200 breast and 400 IM and Boutwell won the 50 free (23.58) and 100 free (51.08).
Desiree Stahley (1:50.74 in the 200 free), Elizabeth Durot (4:55.03 in the 500 free), Costella (16:22.62 in the 1,650 free) and Bishop (2:02.95 in the 200 back) also won individual events.
The Stanford 200 medley relay team won in a season best 1:43.42.
"This was a good way to start the Pac-10 dual meet season," Quick said. "We had a solid effort as a team and several different individuals performed very well."
Rosenthal won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events against the Sun Devils.
Men's swimming
Top-ranked Stanford flexed its muscles and showed off its versatility and depth in beating Arizona State, 130-103, on Friday and No. 5 Arizona, 155-82, on Saturday, extending their winning streak to 37 dual meets.
Saturday's lineup was significantly different from Friday's card as 10 different swimmers won events over the two days.
Hongzhe Sun and Jayme Cramer each won three different events over the weekend.
Sun led Stanford's victory over the Wildcats with a pair of wins. He went 1:45.19 in the 200 back and the 200 IM in 1:49.47. He swam a 1:45.58 in winning the 200 fly against Arizona State.
Andy Grant and Gary Marshall also turned in top performances against Arizona. Grant swam the 200 free in 1:35.77, the sixth-fastest time in the country this year and 1-1/2 seconds faster than his previous best. Marshall won the 200 breast in 1:59.74, nearly two seconds better than his previous best.
Cramer (1:48.74 in the 200 fly), Mike McLean (4:30.91 in the 500 free) and Shaun Phillips (9:16.55 in the 1,000 free) also won events against the Wildcats. Both the 400 free relay and 400 medley teams also swam to victories.
Against the Sun Devils, Cramer swam a season best 1:37.39 in winning the 200 free. He also won the 200 back in 1:46.89.
Tobias Oriwol swam a season best 3:51.29 in winning the 400 IM, while Sun won the 200 fly in 1:45.58, Noa Sakamoto won the 1,000 free in 9:24.81, Matt Crowe won the 50 free in 20.91 and Ben Wildman-Tobriner won the 100 free in 45.15.
Stanford is off until a home meet against USC on Friday, Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.
Men's gymnastics
Fifth-ranked Stanford finished second to No. 7 California in Saturday night's Cardinal Open.
An all-star team of Level 10 club competitors finished third, followed by Air Force and Washington.
Stanford freshman David Sender won the all-around title with a 53.75, while incoming freshman Gregory Ter-Zakhariants, who competed with the all-star team, finished second with a 53.425.
Stanford heads to the Winter Cup in Las Vegas the first weekend of February.
Women's gymnastics
Stanford dropped a 192.825-192.425 decision to host Washington on Friday.
Stanford freshman Liz Tricase won the all-around title with a 39.050 in her collegiate debut. Freshman Lauren was third.
Tricase won the vault in 9.850, and the bars in 9.825.
Stanford hosts Oregon State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion in its home opener.
Men's volleyball
Stanford snapped a two-match losing streak with a 30-26, 30-21, 30-24 victory over host UC San Diego on Friday in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest.
Matt Ceran had 11 kills to lead the Cardinal (2-2, 3-4), which recorded a .420 hitting percentage for the match. Kevin Hansen had 41 assists.
"We had a great team effort overall," Stanford coach Don Shaw said. "The offense was distributed evenly among the team."
Stanford hosts Cal State Northridge in Burnham Pavilion on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Wrestling
Stanford won one of three meets over the weekend, beating Lock Haven, 22-15 and losing to No. 3 Iowa State, 23-18 on Friday in Ames, Iowa.
The Cardinal dropped their Pac-10 Conference opener to host Cal State Bakersfield, 29-12, on Sunday.
Matt Gentry, the defending NCAA champion at 157 pounds, missed the trip to Iowa because of illness.
Heavyweight Shawn Ritzenthaler clinched the victory over the Bald Eagles with a major decision.
Imad Kharbush recorded a pin against both Lock Haven and the Cyclones.
Gentry recorded a major decision, and Kharbush had a technical fall in the loss to Cal State Bakersfield.
Stanford (0-1, 4-4) travels to Eugene on Friday for dual meets against Oregon State and Oregon. The Cardinal go to Portland State on Saturday.
Football
Stanford football coach Walt Harris added two more assistant coaches on Friday, and lost one on Saturday.
Dave Tipton is a familiar name to Stanford fans, joining the coaching staff in 1989 under Dennis Green. He played at Stanford between 1967-70. He'll coach the defensive interior line.
Harris also added Darrell Patterson as inside linebackers coach. Patterson spent the past two years at Southern Methodist.
A.J. Christoff, named the Cardinal defensive coordinator nearly two weeks ago, joined the San Francisco 49ers staff on Saturday as defensive backs coach.
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