Publication Date: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Stanford cross-country teams again race to Pac-10 titles
Stanford cross-country teams again race to Pac-10 titles
(November 02, 2005) Fourth-ranked Cardinal women's swim team shows it means business by swamping visiting Texas in two-day dual meet
by Rick Eymer
Arianna Lambie makes a difference. The redshirt sophomore spent most of last season recovering from a stress reaction and could only watch as the Stanford women's cross country team faltered in the most important race of the postseason.
Lambie, the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year in 2003, is running healthy again and that could lead Stanford back to national prominence.
Lambie won the individual title, her fourth title in five races, and Stanford won its 10th straight Pac-10 title on Saturday at the Dell Ulrich Golf Course in Tucson. She completed the 6,000-meter course in 20:20, beating defending champion Amy Hastings of Arizona to the finish line by 20 seconds.
For the Stanford men, sophomore Neftalem Araia finished third, one of three Stanford runners in the top 10, as the Cardinal also won the Pac-10 title - its sixth straight - to give first-year coach Peter Tegen his first sweep of conference titles.
Araia finished the 8,000-meter course in 24:19. Jonathan Pierce finished seventh in 24:26 while Brett Gotcher was 10th in 24:37. Stanford won the team title with 46 points, 32 points better than runnerup Arizona.
The Stanford women won with 34 points. Arizona State finished second with 40.
Both teams slumped after winning NCAA titles in 2003. The men finished sixth and the women finished fifth last year.
Jeane Goff, a member of last year's team and now working in the Stanford media relations department, said injuries to Lambie and others didn't help the Cardinal but that last year's finish was also due to performance. "We had the girls to win it," she said.
The second-ranked Cardinals (Duke is No. 1) have the runners to again compete for the national title. Redshirt freshman Lindsay Flacks was third in the Pac-10 race in 20:52, while redshirt sophomore Teresa McWalters ran fifth in 20:56.
Both Stanford teams should feel comfortable at the NCAA West Regional, which Stanford hosts on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Women's swimming
Stanford coach Lea Maurer challenged her team and made it tough on them at the same time.
The fourth-ranked Cardinal swimmers shrugged off the adversity and rose to the challenge in an impressive 192-156 victory over visiting Texas.
Sophomore Brooke Bishop led the way with four individual wins. She was also on two winning relay teams.
"Brooke Bishop was rock solid," Maurer said. "She was showing people we can do it and are going to do it. It raised everyone's expectations. By beating Texas people will know that Stanford is also a really good team. We want to exceed our expectations of the past. This was a good test of our mental tenacity and our ability to step up, and I think we did that well."
Dana Kirk was a double winner, and Kristin Caverly, Laura Davis, Morgan Hentzen and Lauren Costella also won events.
Maurer decided not to use two-time NCAA champion Caroline Bruce, who is resting a minor injury. Stanford (2-0) also trained through the meet, making it a little more difficult.
"This win proved a lot to us," Bishop said. "Everyone now realizes we can compete at the top level. It opened eyes for everyone."
Bishop has been opening eyes for a couple of years now. One of the most versatile swimmers in the country, she won the 50 free in 23.04 and the 100 back in 54.51 on Saturday after swimming to a career-best 1:56.75 in the 200 back and winning the 100 free in 50.22.
Bishop's 200 back mark is fifth on Stanford's all-time list in the event, and she improved her previous best by nearly three seconds. She also swam on the winning 200 free relay team (1:35.55) and the 400 medley relay (3:42.64).
"Brooke is a tremendous leader both in and out of the pool," Maurer said. "That should send a message to her that she is in great shape and is a great swimmer."
Kirk won the 200 fly in 2:00.52 and the 100 fly in 54.19. Davis won the 400 IM in 4:19.61, Caverly won the 200 breast in 2:14.96, Hentzen won the 500 free in 4:50.10 and Costella won the 1,650 free in 16:34.16.
"The first three events of a meet can set the tone," Maurer said. "We responded aggressively at the start and then stayed focused. We raced with a little more confidence, and I hope this performance can be a good stepping stone."
Stanford travels to the Big West Shootout in Irvine on Friday.
Women's volleyball
Stanford swept past visiting Oregon State, 30-14, 30-20, 30-22, on Friday night and Oregon, 30-20, 30-23, 30-20, on Thursday night.
The fifth-ranked Cardinal (9-2, 20-3) travel to Washington on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match-up against the undefeated and second-ranked Huskies (11-0, 20-0).
Stanford has won all 42 matches played against Oregon State. Junior outside hitter Kristin Richards recorded a match-high 19 kills and ten digs. Freshman middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo added 15 kills and six digs.
Richards and Akinradewo each had 17 kills against Oregon. Richards added 10 digs while Akinradewo hit .577. Senior libero Courtney Schultz tallied 13 digs to give her 977 for her career.
Stanford has won 33 straight matches from the Ducks dating to the 1989 season.
Women's soccer
Stanford made it a trifecta against visiting UCLA on Sunday, dueling to a scoreless draw in Pac-10 action.
The Bruins and Cardinal met in three separate sports over the weekend on the Stanford campus, and each went to overtime. Both schools went 1-1-1 in the combined events.
Stanford (2-3-2, 8-6-3) dropped a 1-0 decision to visiting USC on Friday night.
Conference leader UCLA (5-0-2, 15-1-2) has been virtually unstoppable all season but the Cardinal seemed poised to take control of the match from the start.
Stanford outshot the Bruins, 6-1, in the first half and three of those shots narrowly missed the net.
The Cardinal have an outside shot at reaching the NCAA tournament as they head into the final weekend of the regular season. Stanford visits Oregon State on Friday.
Men's swimming
Stanford's Hongzhe Sun won two events to highlight action at the Pacific Tiger Invitational on Saturday.
Sun won the 100 back (49.46) and 200 yard back (1:47.31) and also swam in the 200 breast, the 200 IM, and on the 200 and 800 free relays.
Field hockey
Stanford lost to California, 3-2, in overtime in a Nor Pac Conference contest on Saturday.
Jess Zutz and Caroline Hussey scored for Stanford.
Stanford hosted Radford on Monday.
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