Publication Date: Friday, January 20, 2006
All-American honors for Stanford water polo;
All-American honors for Stanford water polo;
(January 20, 2006)Cardinal men's tennis just misses out on titles
by Rick Eymer
Stanford seniors Peter Varellas and Thomas Hopkins headed the list of four Cardinal men's water polo players who achieved All-American status this year.
Varellas and Hopkins, Stanford's leading scorers, were both named to the AWPCA first team while sophomore goalie Sandy Hohener was a second-team pick and junior J.J. Garton garnered third-team mention.
Hopkins, who scored 48 goals for the national runner-up Cardinal, earned his third All-American honor, and his second as a first team pick. He ended his Stanford career with 179 goals.
Varellas led Stanford with 62 goals and finished with 168 career goals. He was a second team All-American last year.
Hohener emerged as Stanford's top goalie after playing in seven games as a freshman. He recorded 171 saves on the year. Garton, one of Stanford's top defensive players, added 16 goals.
Stanford (20-7) won 20 games for the fifth straight season and seven of the past eight. The Cardinal reached the NCAA title match for the fourth time in five years.
Women's gymnastics
Stanford sophomore Tabitha Yim was named Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week after recording a career high 39.600 in All-Around competition during Stanford's four-way meet on Sunday.
Yim competed in just her third all-around competition. She earned All-American honors in all-around, bars, beam and floor exercise with her performance at the nationals last year. She was third in the floor exercise at the NCAA event finals.
Stanford travels to Corvallis to open Pac-10 competition at Oregon State next Friday at 7 p.m.
Men's tennis
Stanford freshman Matt Bruch has been impressive since joining the team in the fall but he'll have to wait a bit longer for a tournament championship as he lost to Baylor junior Matija Zgaga, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the singles final of the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Westlake Village on Monday.
Bruch, with Menlo School grad James Pade, also reached the doubles final, but lost to Florida State's Ytai Abougzir and Chris Westerhauf, 8-3.
Bruch entered the spring season ranked fourth in the country. Zgaga finished last season ranked among the top 100 singles players.
Bruch and Pade won their semifinal match, 9-7, over the UCLA duo of Mohamid Abid and Chris Surapol. Stanford's Chris Rasmussen and James Wan also reached the doubles semifinals, but were beaten by Abougzir and Westerhauf, 8-1. Stanford hosts Hawaii on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Men's gymnastics
The three-day Stanford Open begins tonight at Burnham Pavilion with competition among Level 10 high school gymnasts.
The NCAA and Elite competition will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m., featuring fourth-ranked California, 10th-ranked Nebraska, Washington and host Stanford, ranked sixth.
Over 700 gymnasts representing 59 teams from around the country will participate in the event. Competition on many levels continues all day Saturday and concludes with four sessions on Sunday.
Baseball
Stanford has been picked to finish in a third-place tie with Arizona State in the preseason Pac-10 Coaches Poll released on Wednesday.
Oregon State was chosen to defend its conference title.
The Cardinal open the season with a three-game home series against Cal State Fullerton beginning Friday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.
Menlo College
Freshman women's basketball player Kelci Fushikoshi had a week to remember, and the California Pacific Conference made it even more memorable when it named Fushikoshi its Athlete of the Week.
Fushikoshi had not reached double figures in scoring until getting 17 in each of Menlo's victories last week, over Cal State Maritime and Pacific Union. She came off the bench against the Keelhaulers and earned a start against the Pioneers.
Fushikoshi was 13 of 19 from the field, including 6 of 8 from long range, in the two games and added 12 rebounds and six assists.
The 12th-ranked Oaks (6-1, 12-3) go after their school record seventh consecutive victory today at William Jessup in Rocklin at 5:30 p.m. The road trip continues Saturday at Holy Names, also at 5:30 p.m. The Menlo men's basketball team follows at 7:30 p.m. both nights.
Menlo freshmen women wrestlers J'aime Sage and Monique Cabrera each finished second in their respective divisions at the Lady Oaks Invitational last Sunday.
Pacific University won the team title, while Menlo finished third.
The Oaks compete at the Lassen College Duals in Susanville next Friday beginning at 9 a.m.
The Menlo men's wrestling team were scheduled to compete against host Southern Oregon on Thursday.
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
