Publication Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2005
STANFORD ROUNDUP
Men second at NCAA swim; synchro wins national title
Men second at NCAA swim; synchro wins national title
(March 30, 2005) Undefeated women's tennis team wins its 43rd straight
by Rick Eymer
Senior Gary Marshall won an individual NCAA title, and the Stanford 400-yard medley relay team also won a title as the second-ranked Cardinal finished second at the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships over the weekend in Minneapolis.
Stanford, which has won eight national titles, has finished in the top five nationally for 24 consecutive years, including among the top three 21 times.
Stanford, with 414 points, finished just behind defending champ Auburn, which had 491 points. Arizona was third with 388, followed by California (381) and Florida (284).
Stanford reached the finals in 14 events, with Marshall -- who won the 100 breast and finished third in the 200 breast -- and the championship medley relay team highlighting the competition.
Marshall won the 100 breast in 52.68, edging USC's Mihaly Flasky, and swam a 1:54.54 in the 200 breast.
Stanford opened the meet on Thursday with a pool record 3:06.45 in winning the 400 medley relay with a team of Jayme Cramer, Gary Marshall, Matt McDonald and Ben Wildman-Tobriner. The time also was a school and Pac-10 record.
Several other swimmers established personal bests and etched themselves into the Stanford record books.
Cardinal sophomore Andy Grant took third in the 200 free in a school-record 1:33.97, bettering the previous mark of 1:34.08 by Adam Messner in 2000.
Ben Wildman-Tobriner, fourth in the 100 free, set a school record with his 42.57. He bettered his own mark of 42.59 from earlier in the season.
Senior Jayme Cramer, who placed fourth in the 200 fly and 100 back and sixth in the 100 fly, saw a personal best 46.20 during the preliminaries of the 100 fly, the third-fastest time at Stanford.
Sophomore Hongzhe Sun, who was fourth in the 100 back and 200 back, swam a personal best 46.44 in the prelims, sixth-best at Stanford.
Shaun Phillips was fourth in the 1,650 free and seventh in the 200 free, and Matt McDonald was fifth in the 200 fly and eighth in the 100 fly.
The 200 medley relay team finished second and the 800 free relay team was fifth.
Phillip's time of 14:44.13 in the 1,650 free is the second fastest at Stanford. Michael McLean, who placed 15th, swam a personal best 15:05.92.
Sun swam a 1:41.62 in the 200 back, and a 46.55 in the finals of the 100 back.
In the 200 fly, Cramer (1:43.99) finished just ahead of McDonald (1:44.18).
California won the 400 free relay in a U.S. Open and NCAA record time of 2:47.70. Stanford's Ben Wildman-Tobriner, Kyle Ransom, Andy Grant and Matt Crowe placed eighth in 2:54.70.
In the 200 yard medley relay, the Bears edged Stanford with their pool record time of 1:25.30. The Cardinal team of Cramer, Rick Eddy, McDonald and Wildman-Tobriner swam 1:25.51.
Stanford's team of Daniel Beal, Grant, Phillips and Cramer finished fifth in the 800 free relay with a time of 6:20.70.
Synchronized swimming
Stanford was almost perfect and it resulted in a collegiate championship on Saturday at the O'Connell Center on the University of Florida campus over the weekend.
The Cardinal scored 99.2 out of a possible 100 points in the team routine to end Ohio State's five-year reign as national champs.
Stanford placed first in every event and senior Katie Norris was named the Collegiate Athlete of the Year.
Sara Lowe was recognized as Highpoint Athlete and Cardinal grad and Olympic Gold medalist Heather Olson was named Collegiate Coach of the Year.
Friday's opening technical competition, in which Stanford captured the top four places in both A elements and B figures, highlighted Stanford's depth. Norris, the only senior on the team, captured the gold in A elements, while freshman Katherine Norris won B figures.
The Cardinal opened Saturday's final rounds with a first and third-place finish in the trio competition. Lowe, a 2004 Olympic bronze medalist with the Canadian team, joined fellow Canadian national team members Courtenay Stewart and Samantha Bongiovani-Duclos to victory with a score of 97.000. Poppy Carlig, Melissa Knight, and Cassidy Ramage won the bronze medal.
Lowe and Stewart swam a flawless routine of world-class technical elements to secure the gold in the duet finals, while Katie Norris and Bongiovanni-Duclos captured the bronze.
Norris, a Tallahassee native, won the solo routine with an emotional final solo swim of her collegiate career. The crowd roared in celebration as Norris clinched the gold and lifted Stanford to the overall lead entering the closing team event.
Women's tennis
Top-ranked Stanford won five of the six singles matches to beat visiting Oregon, 6-1, on Saturday.
The defending NCAA champion Cardinal (4-0 in the Pac-10, 14-0 overall) won their 42nd straight dual meet.
Pinewood grad Lejla Hodzic, ranked 29th in the nation, won her match at No. 6 singles, in three sets, 6-2, 6-7, 1-0, over Ester Bak.
Two time defending NCAA singles champion Amber Liu, Alice Barnes, Whitney Deason and Anne Yelsey all won their matches in straight sets.
Stanford hosts California on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., weather permitting.
Men's tennis
After losing to host Washington, 5-2, on Friday, 10th-ranked Stanford rebounded with a 6-1 victory over host Oregon on Saturday in its Pac-10 openers.
The Cardinal (1-1, 9-6) were scheduled to host second-ranked Illinois on Tuesday.
Sam Warburg, ranked second in the nation, defeated 22nd-ranked Sven Swinnen, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 1 singles to lead Stanford to its win over Oregon.
KC Corkery, James Wan, and Phil Kao won in straight sets while Eric McKean went three straights in his victory.
Against Washington, the Cardinal lost all three doubles matches for the only time this season. The third-ranked team of Warburg and Corkery suffered their first dual-meet loss of the year.
Baseball
Jeff Gilmore pitched eight strong innings to help Stanford salvage an 8-2 victory over host Sacramento State on Saturday.
The Hornets beat Stanford, 4-3, on Friday at Sunken Diamond.
On Thursday, Matt Leva retired the final eight batters he faced in leading Stanford to a 6-1 victory over Pacific.
Leva struck out six in 6 1-3 innings to earn his first victory of the season.
John Hester hit his first homer, while Jim Rapoport, Michael Taylor and Brendan Domaracki each had two hits.
Gilmore, who has won four of his five decisions, allowed two runs on six hits in 8 1-3 innings. He walked one and struck out six.
"That was another typical Jeff Gilmore performance," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "He's consistent and always around (the plate)."
Taylor recorded his first three-hit game, and added an RBI for the Cardinal. Adam Sorgi also had his first three-hit game. He hit a two-run homer in the ninth to complete the scoring. Jed Lowrie drove in two runs.
"We had some great plays behind me today," Gilmore said. "I had great defense and a lot of offensive support. These are the days you always want to be pitching."
Stanford scored six runs in the first inning and has outscored its opponents 28-13 in the frame.
Stanford scored three runs in the ninth against Sacramento State on Friday, but it wasn't enough as Ethan Katz beat the Cardinal for the second time in as many years.
Mark Romanczuk (4-3) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks with three strikeouts over seven innings. Erik Davis pitched two hitless innings, striking out two and walking one.
Softball
Freshman hurler Becky McCullough threw a four-hitter and fifth-ranked Stanford beat UNLV, 3-0, in the final game of the Stanford Tournament on Saturday.
McCullough won her sixth straight decision. She struck out three. Catalina Morris had two hits and drove in a run and Michelle Smith added two RBI.
On Thursday, senior catcher Leah Nelson hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Stanford a 4-2 win over Hawaii in the opener.
McCullough also hit a two-run homer.
Laura Severson, McCullough and Danika Dukes combined to no-hit St. Mary's, 7-0, in the second game on Thursday.
Senior Michelle Thiry and Lindsay Key each hit a home run.
McCullough pitched a four-hitter in Stanford's 3-1 victory over Illinois on Friday. She struck out 11 and didn't walk a better. She also helped herself with a two-run single during the Cardinal's three-run first-inning.
Smith hit her 10th homer of the season, a two-run shot, but Stanford (23-4) fell to Northwestern, 7-2, in an earlier game on Friday.
Women's water polo
In a physically and emotionally charged game, third-ranked Stanford suffered a 6-5 overtime loss to second-ranked USC on Saturday in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at Avery Aquatic Center.
Six different players scored as Stanford edged visiting UC Santa Barbara, 6-5, on Thursday.
The Cardinal took a 5-1 lead in the third quarter but needed a goal from Palo Alto grad Laurel Champion to secure the win.
Katie Hansen scored her second goal of the game just before halftime to give Stanford a 5-4 lead against the Women of Troy, but the Cardinal (4-2, 11-4) were held scoreless the rest of the way.
USC scored once in the fourth quarter to tie the contest, and won it in the second overtime period.
Goalkeeper Meridith McColl made several outstanding saves and Champion was credited with an impressive defensive presence to help keep the game close.
Men's volleyball
David Vogel recorded 19 kills, hitting at a .514 clip, and No. 10 Stanford rallied for a 26-30, 30-27, 30-23, 30-22 victory over host USC on Saturday in a MPSF match.
The Cardinal (8-9, 9-11) remain in contention for one of the spots in the MPSF playoffs.
Ben Reddy added 12 kills and nine digs for the Cardinal, while Craig Buell, Chris Ahlfeldt and William Clayton each had 10 kills. Kevin Hansen recorded 53 assists.
Stanford lost the first game and were trailing, 20-18, in the second game before taking a timeout and then rallying for the win.
The Cardinal dropped a 23-30, 30-21, 30-21, 30-27 decision to top-ranked Pepperdine on Friday.
Men's gymnastics
Stanford junior Nate Downs took first place in the individual high bar competition at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship in Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday.
Freshman Sho Nakamori placed second in the floor exercise and freshman David Sender was fourth on rings.
Sophomore Alex Schorsch placed first on rings as Stanford captured third place in the team competition on Friday.
Oklahoma won the title with a team score of 225.650, followed by California in at 219.725 and Stanford at 217.925.
Women's gymnastics
Stanford junior Natalie Foley scored a 39.075 in the all-around for a sixth place finish and Stanford finished fourth at the Pac-10 championships in Berkeley on Saturday.
The Cardinal, who won last year's title, scored a 194.600. UCLA won its 12th Pac-10 championship with a score of 197.100.
Stanford recorded a season-high 48.875 on the balance beam as Foley had a season-high of 9.875.
Foley also had a season-high 9.825 in the vault. Junior Jessica Louie, competing on vault for just the third time, scored a season-high of 9.625.
Tabitha Yim finished second on the uneven bars with a 9.90.
Women's lacrosse
Stanford (5-3) dropped an 18-1 decision to sixth-ranked Duke in Nashville on Saturday.
Junior Megan Burker scored the lone Cardinal goal, while freshman goalkeeper Laura Shane made 16 saves.
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