Stanford men challenge for NCAA swim title Stanford men challenge for NCAA swim title (March 25, 2005)

by Rick Eymer

For those who believe in omens - or at least in coincidences - this just might be the year the Stanford men's swim team surfaces with a national championship.

Stanford has gone seven years since winning a national crown. The year was 1998. The Cardinal defeated defending champion Auburn, recording an NCAA championship first by having at least one top-eight finalist in 18 swimming events. Stanford won eight events.

Auburn once again is the defending champion heading into the 2005 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. The three-day meet got under way last night and concludes Saturday.

Stanford took a No. 2 national ranking into the meet, trailing Auburn by six points in the most recent national poll.

Stanford has at least one swimmer or relay team among the top eight qualifiers in 17 of the 18 events. The Cardinal lead the nation in four events, with swimmers/relay teams among the top three in five others.

Clearly, Stanford is in position to challenge for its first NCAA title since 1998, after finishing second in three of the past four championship meets.

"If everything goes well, we should have a really good chance to win," said Stanford senior Gary Marshall. "Auburn has a lot of good swimmers. If we all swim well, we'll be in pretty good shape."

Stanford brings 15 swimmers into the meet: Daniel Beal, Peter Carothers, Jayme Cramer, Matt Crowe, Rick Eddy, Andy Grant, Matt McDonald, Michael McLean, Tobias Oriwol, Shaun Phillips, Kyle Ransom, Mark Stephens, Hongzhe Sun, Ben Wildman-Tobriner and Marshall.

Marshall is the national leader in both breaststroke events. He shattered school and Pac-10 records in both races at the Pac-10 finals, clocking 52.55 in the 100 breast and 1:52.71 in the 200 breast. In the latter race, Marshall threatened the American and NCAA record of 1:52.62 by former Texas star and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Brendan Hansen.

Marshall is a legitimate favorite to win both races, which would match the breaststroke sweep that Stanford freshman Caroline Bruce pulled off in the women's NCAA championships last week.

"It would be cool to win both breaststrokes," said Marshall, who is still looking for his first NCAA individual title. "In both my events, I've had a lot of success this year and I know I'm capable of swimming well because I've done it already. I just have to repeat my performance from the Pac-10s and I'll be very satisfied."

Marshall opened the NCAA finals Thursday night in the 200 IM and 400 medley relay. He swam the breaststroke leg on Stanford's nationally No. 1-ranked and record-breaking 400 medley relay squad that clocked 3:06.69 to break Pac-10 and school records at the conference finals.

Stanford also leads the nation in the 200 medley relay, a school-record 1:24.82. The Cardinal ranks No. 3 in the 800 free relay, No. 7 in the 200 free relay but just No. 11 in the 400 free relay - the only event in which Stanford doesn't rank among the top eight.

Other possible title threats for Stanford include junior Mike McLean in the 500 free (ranked No. 3 with a school-record 4:14.89); Wildman-Tobriner in the 50 free (No. 2 nationally at 19.23); Cramer in the 100 back (No. 3 in 46.05) and 200 fly (No. 2 in 1:43.09), and Sun in the 200 back (No. 3 in 1:41.25).

Stanford has won eight NCAA titles and has finished among the top five nationally for 23 straight years, including top-three finishes in 20 of those seasons.

Track and field

Many of the top finishers from the 2004 NCAA outdoor championships will be on hand this weekend at the annual Stanford Invitational at Cobb Track & Angell Field.

Action begins today (9 a.m. running, 11 a.m. field events) and continues Saturday at 9 a.m.

Jonathan Johnson of Texas Tech, a 2004 U.S. Olympian and the defending NCAA champion in the 800 meters, brings a personal record of 1:44.77 into his specialty on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.

Robert Chesert of Arizona, the defending NCAA champ in the 10,000, will highlight that field tonight at 8:30 p.m. Defending NAIA champ Josphat Boit (13:17.12 PR) also is in the race along with Arkansas sophomore Peter Kosegei and American Matt Lane.

The men's 1,500 on Saturday (2:40 p.m.) features BYU's Nathan Robison, second at NCAAs last season. The men's discus features Stanford's Michael Robertson, a transfer from SMU who is the nation's top returning collegian after throwing 212-10 last season. He'll throw Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

The women's events feature 2004 Olympian Nicole Teter in the 1,500 (2:25 p.m.) and 800 (3:35 p.m.), both Saturday, while Stanford freshman Erica McLain will make her collegiate outdoor debut in the triple jump after leading the nation indoors this season at 45-7 1/4. She'll jump Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Women's tennis

Even with an 18-day layoff, the top-ranked Stanford women's tennis team recorded the same results in Las Vegas as it has the previous 12 dual meets.

Led by Anne Yelsey's 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Gyorgyi Zsiros at No. 5 singles, the top five singles players won in straight sets in the Cardinal's 6-1 victory over UNLV on Wednesday.

Stanford (13-0) puts its 42-match winning streak on the line Saturday when Oregon visits the Taube Tennis Center in a Pac-10 contest at noon.

The Cardinal swept the doubles matches before the singles victories. Amber Liu, Alice Barnes, Theresa Logar and Whitney Deason joined Yelsey on the winning side.

Softball

Sixth-ranked Stanford (19-3) hosts the Stanford Invitational, which continues through Saturday.

The Cardinal play Northwestern (15-7) at 1 p.m. today, followed by Illinois (13-8) at 3 p.m. Stanford concludes the Invitational with a game against UNLV (19-11) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Cardinal pitchers have thrown five one-hitters this season, and nine shutouts.

Men's gymnastics

Eighth-ranked Stanford travels to Oklahoma this weekend for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship.

Freshmen Sho Nakamori is Stanford's top-ranked all-around performer, ranking fifth with a Regional Qualifying Score of 54.742. Fellow freshman David Sender is ranked 11th with a 53.658.

Stanford has a team ranking of No. 5 on rings, with three gymnasts ranked in the top 22 in the nation.

The MPSF team championship will be held today at 7 p.m., while the individual finals are scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Men's tennis

Stanford was swept by top-ranked and undefeated Baylor, 7-0, in Waco, Texas on Wednesday.

The 10th-ranked Cardinal (8-5) open Pac-10 play this weekend at Washington today and at Oregon on Saturday.

Against the Bears (17-0), second-ranked Sam Warburg dropped a hotly-contested 7-5, 6-2 decision to No. 1 ranked Benedikt Dorsch at the top of the ladder.

Monday's match against visiting Santa Clara at was postponed due to inclement weather. The match has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 19th at 1:30 p.m.

Men's golf

Stanford shot a final round of 291 on Tuesday to finish eighth at the Oregon Duck Invitational at the Eugene Country Club.

Freshman Rob Grube shot a one-under par 71 on the final day to move into a tie for 25th individually with a three-round total of 220.

Pepperdine's Michael Putnam and Washington's James Lepp tied for top honors with an eight-under 208 over three rounds of play.

Washington won the team title with an 860.

Women's golf

Stanford shot a 304 in the final round of the Oregon Duck Invitational, held at the Shadow Hills Country Club in Junction City, for a final score of 913 to finish third.

California won the event with a three-round score of 908.

Long Beach State's Kay Hoey took top individual honors with a 218 over three rounds.

The Cardinal were led by sophomore Lauren Todd, who finished eighth with a 225.

Baseball

Stanford had its fifth game of the season rained out on Tuesday night as its scheduled contest against San Jose State was postponed with no makeup date as yet announced.

Stanford (12-7) has played once since March 6 due to its annual break for finals and two rainouts.

The Cardinal were scheduled to meet Pacific on Thursday in a makeup game.

Stanford is scheduled to play Sacramento State (7-15-1) in a home-and-home series today and Saturday, with Sacramento State visiting today at 6 p.m. Santa Clara will visit Sunken Diamond on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Men's volleyball

Stanford travels to top-ranked Pepperdine for a 7 p.m. MPSF match today, and then goes to USC for a 7 p.m. match on Saturday.

The 10th-ranked Cardinal (7-8, 8-10) will end a two-week break against the Waves (16-1).

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