Laura Stickells – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 21 Jul 2023 21:28:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Laura Stickells – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Love ‘unlikely’ to play in football season opener https://stanforddaily.com/2016/08/30/love-unlikely-to-play-in-football-season-opener/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/08/30/love-unlikely-to-play-in-football-season-opener/#respond Tue, 30 Aug 2016 09:19:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1116840 Head coach David Shaw announced during Monday’s press conference that it’s “unlikely” sophomore running back Bryce Love will play on Friday in No. 8 Stanford’s opener against Kansas State, as he has yet to recover fully from a lower-body injury sustained during training camp.

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Head coach David Shaw announced during Monday’s press conference that it’s “unlikely” sophomore running back Bryce Love will play on Friday in No. 8 Stanford’s opener against Kansas State, as he has yet to recover fully from a lower-body injury sustained during training camp.

“There has been no setback but he hasn’t made the progress that we’re looking for,” Shaw said.

Love, who had 29 carries last year, averaging 7.8 yards and 15 receptions for 250 yards in 14 games, is expected to be a key playmaker for the Cardinal this season.

With Love on the bench, more pressure will be put on junior running back Christian McCaffrey and new starting quarterback Ryan Burns, a senior, to carry the Stanford offense. Sophomore Cameron Scarlett should also see more playing time with Love’s absence.

Shaw also said that junior tight end Dalton Shultz should be ready to play on Friday despite missing recent practices due to injury.

Stanford begins its season against Kansas State on Sept. 2 at Stanford Stadium.

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Ryan Burns named starting quarterback for season opener https://stanforddaily.com/2016/08/24/ryan-burns-named-starting-quarterback-for-season-opener/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/08/24/ryan-burns-named-starting-quarterback-for-season-opener/#respond Wed, 24 Aug 2016 23:51:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1116772 Head coach David Shaw announced after practice Wednesday that senior Ryan Burns will be the starting quarterback for the season opener against Kansas State, beating out redshirt sophomore Keller Chryst. Although Burns will play “a good chunk of the game,” Chryst will still receive playing time, according to Shaw.

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Head coach David Shaw announced after Wednesday’s practice that senior Ryan Burns will be the starting quarterback for the season opener against Kansas State, beating out junior Keller Chryst. Although Burns will play “a good chunk of the game,” Chryst will still receive playing time, according to Shaw.

The announcement comes as a shock to many Cardinal fans, as Chryst seemed the favorite to win the starting job coming into spring training camp. Chryst—a 4-star recruit and the 3rd-ranked pro-style quarterback in the class of 2014 by 247Sports—backed up Kevin Hogan last season, completing 5-of-9 passes for 59 yards in four games last year.

Comparatively, Burns—a 6-foot-5, 232-pound, 4-star recruit and the 12th-best pro-style quarterback in the class of 2013—has played in six games and has thrown only one pass over the past two years.

“There hasn’t been a huge separation between the two. Both guys have played extremely well,” Shaw said. “Ryan’s just been barely enough ahead to get the nod, but I think both guys are going to play and hopefully help us win.”

Stanford, ranked 8th in the preseason AP Poll, kicks off its season against Kansas State on Sept. 2 at Stanford Stadium.

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu. 

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Gymnastics alums look back on Olympics https://stanforddaily.com/2016/05/28/gymnastics-alums-look-back-on-olympics/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/05/28/gymnastics-alums-look-back-on-olympics/#respond Sat, 28 May 2016 09:00:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1115820 REBECCA WING ’15 HELPS BRITAIN TO 9th PLACE FINISH As the starter on beam and bars for Great Britain’s women’s gymnastics team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Rebecca Wing ’15 knew her job was to set the tone for the rest of the team. “You just couldn’t even hear anything because it was just […]

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REBECCA WING ’15 HELPS BRITAIN TO 9th PLACE FINISH

As the starter on beam and bars for Great Britain’s women’s gymnastics team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Rebecca Wing ’15 knew her job was to set the tone for the rest of the team.

“You just couldn’t even hear anything because it was just so loud,” Wing said describing the atmosphere in the stadium. “It was actually amazing because when I competed our team was in the same rotation as China so it was packed.”

Rebecca Wing '15 competes on the bars for the GBR at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Rebecca Wing ’15 competes on the bars for the GBR at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, helping lead her country to ninth place.

Despite what would have been for most a pressure-packed competition, Wing was able to stay calm and consistent.

“Walking out into the arena, I was super nervous…this is what you’ve trained for your whole life,” Wing explained. “And then it hit me – this is it, I have nothing to lose anymore, I can’t get any higher than this so I’m just going to enjoy it. It was a really cool feeling.”

Drowning out the noise and maintaining her newly found composure, Wing did her job, posting a 14.1 on bars and a 14.575 on beam helping lead Great Britain to ninth place, the country’s highest ever finish in the event up to that point.

“I just had to hit my routine and I did it,” Wing said. “I was just really proud with how I did.”

Immediately following the Olympics, Wing thought that she wanted to make a run for London in 2012, but it wasn’t long before she realized she had new goals. Wing left any shot at a second Olympics behind when she accepted an athletic scholarship to Stanford and instead focused on helping the team to the National Championships in 2014 and 2015.

KRISTINA VACULIK ’15 MAKES HISTORY WITH CANADIAN WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS TEAM

In 2012, four years after Wing made history in Beijing, Stanford teammate Kristina Vaculik ’15 took the floor in London as a member of the Canadian Team.

After having not even qualified a team for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Canada was ecstatic when it secured a seventh-place finish in the qualifying round, good enough to take one of the eight spots in the team final competition.

When the last scores trickled in to cement the final results, Vaculik and her teammates were in shock. When the scoreboard displayed Canada in fifth place, the country’s highest-ever team-finish, the five members all embraced each other and began crying.

“It was unbelievable,” Vaculik said, remembering the event nearly four years later. “I just kept being like, ‘No, that can’t be. No, there’s a mistake.’”

The United States, Russia, Romania and China – all historic gymnastics powerhouses – were the only teams to place ahead of Canada.

“A lot of times people are like, ‘Oh you went to the Olympics, did you medal?’ But it’s so much more than just medaling. It’s a lifetime worth of work and the whole team of people that you have behind you and the team of people that you have with you there.”

Vaculik’s road to London was anything but ordinary for an Olympic gymnast.

After just missing the cut to be named one of the two Canadian gymnasts headed to Beijing in 2008 (Canada only sent two gymnasts in 2008 because they didn’t qualify as a team), Vaculik originally wasn’t sure if she wanted to try again for the 2012 Games.

After accepting an athletic scholarship to Stanford, Vaculik decided to compete in college for a year on The Farm before taking a year off of school to prepare for London.

“I decided to continue the sport out of just pure enjoyment…because I did actually enjoy gymnastics just for the fun of it and I did just enjoy competing.”

On top of perfecting her college routines and taking on an intense collegiate competition schedule, Vaculik had to put in additional training to keep up her elite-level skills. At times, it was difficult to meet the demands and expectations of her teammates and coaches while still reaching for her own personal goal to compete on the biggest international stage.

“But in the end I’m really happy I stuck it out with Stanford because the experience there was invaluable and working through the struggles and learning how to work with people and how to trust in one and other and gain other people’s trust. I grew so much as a person.”

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Click here for more stories from our Road to Rio Olympic coverage.

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Timeline: Stanford at the Olympics https://stanforddaily.com/2016/05/28/timeline-stanford-at-the-olympics/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/05/28/timeline-stanford-at-the-olympics/#respond Sat, 28 May 2016 08:09:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1115840 Discover more about Stanford's storied athletic history with this interactive timeline.

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Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu and Neel Ramachandran at neelr ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Click here for more stories from our Road to Rio Olympic coverage.
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Beach volleyball opens season with mixed results at Stanford Tournament https://stanforddaily.com/2016/03/09/beach-volleyball-opens-season-with-mixed-results-at-stanford-tournament/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/03/09/beach-volleyball-opens-season-with-mixed-results-at-stanford-tournament/#respond Wed, 09 Mar 2016 11:30:11 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1112273 No. 13 Stanford beach volleyball (2-2) opened its season this weekend in the Stanford Tournament, splitting four games with wins over Sacramento State (0-4) and San Jose State (1-3) on Saturday and losses to No. 16 Pacific (2-2) and St. Mary’s (3-1) on Sunday. The Cardinal started the weekend battling through the rain to earn […]

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No. 13 Stanford beach volleyball (2-2) opened its season this weekend in the Stanford Tournament, splitting four games with wins over Sacramento State (0-4) and San Jose State (1-3) on Saturday and losses to No. 16 Pacific (2-2) and St. Mary’s (3-1) on Sunday.

Sophomore Karina Robinson (above) partnered with classmate Sidney Brown at the No. 4 spot for the Cardinal, battling to two three-set victories on Saturday before dropping both their matches on Sunday.(HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA)
Sophomore Karina Robinson (above) partnered with classmate Sidney Brown at the No. 4 spot for the Cardinal, battling to two three-set victories on Saturday before dropping both their matches on Sunday.(HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA)

The Cardinal started the weekend battling through the rain to earn a 5-0 sweep over the Hornets, with only two of the five games going to three sets.  The No. 1 pair of junior Ivana Vanjak and freshman Payton Chang and the No. 2 pair of junior Merete Lutz and freshman Halland McKenna were the highlight of the morning as both teams cruised to easy 21-12, 21-15 victories.

“Obviously, we want to contend for a national championship and these are the ones we have to win, whether or not it’s in the rain or the wind,” said head coach Denise Corlett.

In the afternoon Stanford earned its second victory, coming back from a 2-1 deficit after the No. 5 Cardinal pair – freshmen Courtney Bowen and Jennifer DiSanto – and No. 3 pair – sophomore Catherine Raquel and freshman Hayley Hodson – dropped their matches 21-17, 24-22 and 21-17, 21-19, respectively. However, two more strong performances from Vanjak and Chang and Lutz and McKenna lifted Stanford to take the overall match 3-2.

“We definitely felt a sense of urgency,” Vanjak said about the comeback. “I started a little slow in the first set, but Payton helped me out a lot and got me back in the groove of the game. We knew we had to come back and fight.” 

On Sunday, Stanford struggled to find its rhythm, falling 4-1 to both Pacific and Saint Mary’s. The only highlight came in the form of the No. 5 freshman pair who took control of both their matches to earn a 21-12, 21-15 win over Pacific and a 21-8, 21-10 victory over Saint Mary’s.

Despite the rough ending to the weekend, Corlett is still optimistic for the remainder of the season.

“This was the first NCAA beach competition for seven of our players,” Corlett said. “We are only going to get better.”

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Women’s swimming heads to Pac-12’s, seeking 20th conference title https://stanforddaily.com/2016/02/24/womens-swimming-heads-to-pac-12s-seeking-20th-conference-title/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/02/24/womens-swimming-heads-to-pac-12s-seeking-20th-conference-title/#respond Wed, 24 Feb 2016 08:21:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1111394 No. 1 Stanford women’s swimming and diving (7-0, 7-0 Pac-12) is heading to Federal Way, Washington Feb. 24-27 to compete for the Pac-12 Championship and the team’s 20th conference title. The Cardinal are coming off of a huge 172-128 win over rival No. 3 Cal, in which the Cardinal took first in 11 of the 16 […]

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No. 1 Stanford women’s swimming and diving (7-0, 7-0 Pac-12) is heading to Federal Way, Washington Feb. 24-27 to compete for the Pac-12 Championship and the team’s 20th conference title.

The Cardinal are coming off of a huge 172-128 win over rival No. 3 Cal, in which the Cardinal took first in 11 of the 16 events.

Freshman Ella Eastin had a stand-out performance on Saturday against the Bears, taking individual titles in the 200 fly, 500 free and the 200 IM, and will be a top contender for first place in all three of those events this week. The freshman also holds the conference’s top times for season in the 200 fly (1:53.34), 200 IM (1:54.53) and the 400 IM (4:01.04).

Junior Lia Neal is also heading into the meet in winning form, as she currently holds the fastest time in the nation with a 47.74 in the 100 free and posted a comfortable 48.47 win against Cal.

Also looking for strong Pac-12 championship performances are seniors Sarah Haase and Alex Clay, who will look to defend their 100-breaststroke and three-meter diving titles, respectively. Haase holds this year’s conference record in the 100 breast with a time of 58.27.

Joining the team in Washington will be the men’s diving squad, who will compete alongside the women for their conference championship. Although the men’s swim contingent struggled against Cal, the divers couldn’t be peaking at a better time, as they took the top four spots in both diving events.

Out of the four Stanford men’s divers, junior Bradley Christensen is in the best form to lead the Cardinal, as he is coming off a strong performance against Cal, where he placed first in both events with a 363.15 in the 1-meter and a 440.63 in the 3-meter.

The event will be air tape delayed and can be watched on Pac-12 Networks beginning at 10 a.m. on Feb. 26-28.

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs@stanford.edu.

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Greater than gold: Elizabeth Price realizes life beyond the Olympics https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/29/greater-than-gold-elizabeth-price-realizes-life-beyond-the-olympics/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/29/greater-than-gold-elizabeth-price-realizes-life-beyond-the-olympics/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2016 09:59:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1109997 On the first weekend in March, sophomore Elizabeth Price will be competing at UCLA against the Bruins and the Georgia Gym Dogs, looking to lead the Stanford team to a spot in the collegiate national championship. Meanwhile, former U.S. National Team teammates Gabby Douglas and Margaret Nichols will be competing on one of the largest […]

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On the first weekend in March, sophomore Elizabeth Price will be competing at UCLA against the Bruins and the Georgia Gym Dogs, looking to lead the Stanford team to a spot in the collegiate national championship.

Meanwhile, former U.S. National Team teammates Gabby Douglas and Margaret Nichols will be competing on one of the largest international gymnastics stages in the world at the 2016 AT&T American Cup in Newark, New Jersey.

Just two years earlier, Price had won the all-around and three individual event titles at that very international competition, earning her the World Cup Series title and cementing her status as the No. 1 gymnast in the world.

One month later, Price won the all-around and two more event titles at the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championship in Richmond, Canada. There was seemingly nothing that could stand between Price and dominance of the world gymnastics stage.  

After securing her spot at the top of the totem pole, Price shocked the gymnastics world when she ended her elite international career to accept a scholarship at Stanford, forgoing a trip to the 2014 World Championship and removing herself from consideration for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Instead of choosing to compete alongside Douglas and Nichols for one of five spots on the Olympic team and maintain her domination of world gymnastics, Price chose, much to the gymnastics community’s confusion, to pursue an NCAA championship, what most would consider a far less prestigious accomplishment.

It seemed as if Price couldn’t have left the sport at a worse time — she had the gymnastics world at her feet, and she let it go.

Price disagrees.

“I think it was actually the best way I could have left elite gymnastics,” she said. “I was leaving at the top of my game and I had nothing to lose.”

“I know a lot of people are like, ‘How is that possible?’ But honestly, it’s not my life goal to go the Olympics,” Price added. “I always wanted to do college gymnastics.”

***

For Price, gymnastics has never been her whole life. When she was eight, her mother forced her to make the tough decision of deciding between gymnastics and another sport that she loved dearly — football.

Price’s two younger brothers played in a flag football league and she would join in when they played backyard games with the neighbors.

“I was like, ‘Mom, I really want to play football,’ and my mom was like, ‘Well, I don’t care, but it’s either football or gymnastics and you can’t do both,’” Price said, imitating the conversation she often would have with her mother. “Obviously, I chose to do gymnastics but I continued to play football on the side.”

Football wasn’t the only activity that kept Price occupied outside of the gym. When she would come home from the gym, she skateboarded with her brothers, and on some of her free days, she snowboarded as well, much to her coaches’ disapproval.

“Back when I was in club gymnastics, our coaches didn’t want us doing anything but gymnastics,” Price said.

A fall on a skateboard or snowboard could mean a broken wrist and weeks away from training and competitions, but even when Price was an elite gymnast with the world championships and the Olympic team on the line, that never fazed her.

When Price was 12, she was practicing up to 40 hours a week, but even when gymnastics had come to take up all her time, she never let it define her.

When it came time to decide whether or not to defer her admission to Stanford to try for a World Championship or a second berth in the Olympics (she was the first alternate in 2012), she knew what she wanted and didn’t let others’ opinions change her mind.

Marta Karolyi, national coordinator for USA Gymnastics, and Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, both wanted her to stay elite for another year, but Price was ready for Stanford.

“I mean, gymnastics has always been a big part of my life, but I never considered it my life,” Price said. “I always wanted to go to college and do college gymnastics.”

“She’s a very confident young woman who knows who she is and knows what she wants,” said head coach Kristen Smyth. “No influence and no organization or anybody is going to try and encourage her to do something different than what she wants to do.”

***

It didn’t take long for Price to score her first perfect 10 in the NCAA. In Maples Pavilion against Oregon State on Jan. 26, 2015, just her fourth meet of her college career, she became the third gymnast in Stanford history to score a 10.0 on vault.

“It’s so hard to describe how you do something that’s considered perfect in the eyes of the judges, especially in gymnastics where the judges decide everything,” Price said.

Price performed a Yurchenko full twist and made it look easy, probably because for her, it was easy. Less than a year previously, Price had performed a Yurchenko two and a half twist at the AT&T American Cup where she won the event.

“I knew coming to college my routines would be cut in half,” Price said about the easier vault.

That wasn’t due to any regression on Price’s part; rather, it was more due to a difference in the emphases of elite and collegiate gymnastics. In college, judges pay more attention to detail, whereas in elite, while detail still plays a role, difficulty is much more important.

“All the tenths come from having that one pointed foot, or that one straight arm,” Price said. “Most people can’t see, but it’s hard to make sure you are able to make those details perfect in every routine.”

Price finished last year as the NCAA champion on vault with a score of 9.9333.

This year, Price has been named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for the third consecutive week after having brought home her third all-around title in as many meets. Out of her 15 total events for this season, Price has won nine.

“Her gymnastics is just enormous,” Smyth said about the sophomore’s consistent domination. “Everything she does is just big, aggressive and confident.”

But Price isn’t just competing for the individual accolades: She puts in her best performances when her team needs a big score the most.

“I noticed the last couple of meets when we were having a little bit of trouble in the lineup and she was next they were even bigger and better performances than the usual,” Smyth said. “So it shows me that she really loves the team, puts the team first and gets even bigger and better in those moments where we really need her to step up.”

***

Price was a national team member from 2012 to 2014. She won the all-around at the Pacific Rim Championships and the AT&T American Cup. She traveled to London as the alternate for the 2012 gold medal-winning US Olympic Team. She won the World Cup Series title and was ranked as the No. 1 gymnast in the world.

But ever since Price was little, she always knew college gymnastics was what she wanted, and nothing, not even the Olympics or her status as the No. 1 gymnast in the world, was going to hold her back from performing in the NCAA.

“I never planned on really sticking around [elite gymnastics] because I had already accomplished everything that I wanted to do,” Price said. “When I was younger, where I’d see myself when I was 19 years old is exactly where I am right now: at college pursuing engineering as a gymnast.”

Price is majoring in biomechanical engineering with the hope of working to improve healthcare in the future. Specifically, she wants to simplify medical devices and make them more affordable and easier to maintain. At school, gymnastics is just something she does on the side.

Although it’s easy to say that Price peaked when she was 18, she says she’s just ready to focus on other, bigger goals that don’t involve gymnastics.

“I had already proven that I was a great gymnast. I had performed my best routines in front of some of the best people in the world and had represented the U.S. very well. So for me, sure the Olympics is great, but it [isn’t] necessarily that important that [I’m] going to put off another dream of mine.
“I mean, gymnastics just isn’t my life. It’s just a part of it.”

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Last three meetings: Rose Bowl edition https://stanforddaily.com/2015/12/30/last-three-meetings-rose-bowl-edition/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/12/30/last-three-meetings-rose-bowl-edition/#respond Wed, 30 Dec 2015 20:55:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1108690 On New Year's Day, No. 5 Stanford (11-2) will take the field for the last time this season against the No. 6 University of Iowa (12-1) in Pasadena, California for what will be the Cardinal’s 15th Rose Bowl berth.

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On New Year’s Day, No. 5 Stanford (11-2) will take the field for the last time this season against the No. 6 University of Iowa (12-1) in Pasadena, California for what will be the Cardinal’s 15th Rose Bowl berth.

The Hawkeyes’ last Rose Bowl appearance came in 1991, whereas The Granddaddy of Them All is no stranger to this Cardinal team, as this will mark the program’s third Rose Bowl trip in the last four years. Here’s a look at Stanford’s last three trips to the Rose Bowl:

2000: Stanford vs. Wisconsin

The 2000 Rose Bowl was Stanford’s (8-3) first Rose Bowl appearance since 1972. The matchup against two-time Big Ten Champion Wisconsin (9-2) featured a powerful Badger run game lead by 1999 Heisman Trophy winner and running back Ron Dayne. The senior rushed for 200 yards, leading Wisconsin to its second consecutive Rose Bowl victory and earning player of the game honors.

After a scoreless first quarter, Stanford kicked a 28-yard field goal to put the first points on the board. Just over four minutes later, Wisconsin tied it up with a 31-yard field goal of its own. With 2:03 left in the half, Stanford’s Kerry Carter ran the ball in from the 1-yard line for a touchdown, but a failed two-point conversion left the score at 9-3.

Stanford couldn’t keep its offensive momentum going in the second half and was held scoreless for the remaining 30 minutes of play. After a 64-yard run and 4-yard touchdown run by Dayne, the Badgers took the lead for the first time with 12:57 left in the third quarter. A bad snap on a Stanford field goal attempt resulted in a blocked kick and shortly after, sophomore quarterback Brooks Bollinger ran for a Badgers touchdown, topping off Wisconsin’s 17-9 victory.

2013: Stanford vs. Wisconsin

PASADENA, CA - January 1, 2013: Stanford Cardinal vs the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2013 Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California. Final score Stanford 20, Wisconsin 14.
Usua Amanam (second from right) secured the game-winning interception and co-MVP honors in Stanford’s 20-14 victory over Wisconsin in the 2013 Rose Bowl. (DAVID BERNAL/isiphotos.com)

No. 8 Stanford (11-2) entered the Rose Bowl 13 years later as the favorite over the unranked Big Ten Champion Wisconsin Badgers (for a second straight time). Wisconsin’s unimpressive 8-5 record would not have even qualified the team for the Big Ten title game had not both Penn State and Ohio State been ineligible. To make matters worse for the Badgers, their head coach, Bret Bielema, accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas shortly before the game. Hall of Fame and former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez returned to serve as the interim coach for the Badgers after retiring from the head coach job seven years earlier.

Despite Wisconsin’s mediocre record and unfamiliar head coach, the game developed into a serious defensive battle. The Badgers limited sophomore quarterback Kevin Hogan to 123 passing yards and senior running back Stepfan Taylor rushed for only 89 yards, almost 22 yards less than his average. But it was the Stanford defense that was the star of the show, as it completely shut down the Badgers’ offense in the second half.

The Cardinal held Wisconsin scoreless in the first quarter, allowing the Stanford offense to gain an early 14-point lead. On Stanford’s opening drive, sophomore Kelsey Young ran into the end zone with a 16-yard carry and Taylor scored again for the Cardinal with 6:35 left in the quarter.

Wisconsin put its first points on the board when senior running back Montee Ball ran in a touchdown with 9:05 left in the half. After a Stanford field goal, Wisconsin responded again with an 85-yard touchdown drive, featuring a 38-yard run from sixth-year senior quarterback Curt Phillips, cutting Stanford’s halftime lead to 17-14.

In the second half, the Stanford defense shut down the Badgers’ offense, as they were unable to score and were limited to only four first downs. Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson put another three points on the board after a 22-yard field goal with only 4:23 left in the game.

Needing just a touchdown and extra point to win the game, Wisconsin marched down the field on its final drive. However, with 2:03 left to play, the team’s chance at a comeback victory was snapped when Stanford nickelback Usua Amanam made the game-winning interception on the Cardinal’s 42-yard line, earning Amanam co-MVP honors alongside Stepfan Taylor. This win not only brought the Cardinal its first Rose Bowl victory in four decades but also its 12th victory of the season for the second time in school history.

2014: Stanford vs. Michigan State

(JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)
Kevin Anderson (center) had a pick-six in Stanford’s 2014 Rose Bowl matchup against Michigan State, but the Spartans would fight back to go up 17-14 at half, despite trailing 10-0 in the first quarter. Michigan State would go on to win the game, 24-20. (JIM SHORIN/stanfordphoto.com)

For one quarter of play of Stanford’s (11-2) second consecutive Rose Bowl appearance, it looked as if the hyped Michigan State (13-1) team would be an easy matchup for the Cardinal. On just the second play of the game, Hogan opened with a huge 43-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Michael Rector. A few plays later, senior running back Tyler Gaffney scored on a 16-yard run.

The Stanford defense stopped the Spartans on their first two drives and a 47-yard run by Gaffney put the Cardinal in field goal position, bringing to score to 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.

But the Spartans were not going to roll over in their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1988, and Michigan State would ultimately suffocate the Stanford offense. A third-and-goal pass interference call against the Cardinal on the Stanford 9-yard line set up junior running back Jeremy Langford to complete a 75-yard touchdown drive, narrowing Stanford’s lead to 10-7.

With 2:07 left in the first half, Stanford linebacker Kevin Anderson intercepted a pass, returning the ball 40-yards for a pick-six, reestablishing the Cardinal’s 10-point lead. Michigan State came back with vengeance, and after 24, 11 and 37-yard passes put the Spartans on the Stanford 3-yard line, Cook threw a touchdown pass to sophomore fullback Trevor Pendleton leaving the score 17-14 at half.

On the opening drive of the second half, Michigan State tied up the game with a 31-yard field goal. While the Spartans were gaining momentum, the Stanford offense was stalling, and a turnover and failed fourth-down conversion left the Cardinal scoreless in the third quarter.

After a poorly executed punt, Michigan State started its first drive of the fourth quarter on the Cardinal’s 27-yard line. Three plays later, Connor Cook connected with junior wide receiver Tony Lippett in the end zone for 25-yard touchdown pass, putting the Spartans up for the first time, 24-17.

A 39-yard field goal with 4:15 left in the game put the Cardinal within four, but with go-to receiver Ty Montgomery out on a knee injury, the win was made nearly impossible. When the Cardinal got the ball back with 3:06 left in the game, they couldn’t manage a first down. The Spartans sealed their victory when they stuffed fifth-year senior fullback Ryan Hewitt for no gain on fourth-and-1.

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Roundtable: What went wrong for the Cardinal defense against the Ducks? https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/18/roundtable-what-went-wrong-for-the-cardinal-defense-against-the-ducks/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/18/roundtable-what-went-wrong-for-the-cardinal-defense-against-the-ducks/#respond Wed, 18 Nov 2015 08:16:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1107369 They say all good things must come to an end, and sadly, Stanford’s undefeated conference record was not immune. The then-No.7 Cardinal (8-2, 7-1 Pac-12) lost a 38-36 heartbreaker to the Oregon Ducks (7-3, 5-2) on Saturday, largely eliminating themselves from playoff consideration. There are a lot of things Stanford did wrong that one could dwell on […]

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They say all good things must come to an end, and sadly, Stanford’s undefeated conference record was not immune. The then-No.7 Cardinal (8-2, 7-1 Pac-12) lost a 38-36 heartbreaker to the Oregon Ducks (7-3, 5-2) on Saturday, largely eliminating themselves from playoff consideration. There are a lot of things Stanford did wrong that one could dwell on (settling for field goals, fumbled snaps, the two-point conversion), but perhaps the most shocking thing about the game was how Vernon Adams and the Oregon offense had so many big plays against the Stanford defense. What went wrong for the Cardinal defense, and is it in danger of repeating those mistakes against Jared Goff and the Cal offense? We asked Daily sports writers Laura Stickells, Olivia Hummer and Neel Ramachandran for their thoughts.

Laura Stickells: After watching Stanford and Oregon battle it out to keep national championship hopes alive for the past four years and after witnessing upsets three out of those four times, I wasn’t shocked when the Cardinal fell from the ranks of the one-loss teams.

The Stanford front seven, particularly in the first half, had a hard time with the Oregon linemen and struggled getting to the quarterback. This gave Vernon Adams plenty of time to pick a target and the wide receivers plenty of time to escape their cornerbacks and complete passes. Adams finished the night with a 0.83 completion rate, averaging 20.8 yards per completion and throwing no picks.

Although I think Stanford is likely to come out on top in Saturday’s matchup, Cal’s offense should still provide another tough challenge for the Stanford defense. The Bears are hot off a big win against Oregon State and are ranked second in the Pac-12 in total offense, averaging 511.6 yards per game, and their 6-4 record doesn’t show that two of those losses came within one touchdown. Also on the roster is likely first-round draft pick Jared Goff, who was on point last weekend, passing for 453 yards and 6 touchdowns, helping lead Cal to a school record of 760 yards in total offense.

With No. 1 cornerback Ronnie Harris out, Goff will likely have another big day in the air, which could present a problem for the inexperienced Stanford secondary, as all five are first-year starters. That being said, the Bears are not as strong defensively, ranking fourth from the bottom in rush defense in the Pac-12, so the Cardinal will likely be able to employ one of their favorite strategies, controlling the clock for the majority of the game.

In short, if the Stanford defense can keep a powerful Cal offense off the field, then they should find themselves playing in Levi’s Stadium come Dec. 5.

Neel Ramachandran: Despite Stanford’s resounding success this year, there have been warning signs along the way that the defense, and in particular the secondary, might not be up to par with Cardinal defenses of years past. Elite passers such as Cody Kessler of USC and Luke Falk of Wazzu carved up the secondary earlier this year, but Stanford was able to get away with wins, due at least in part to the fact that neither team possessed a particularly strong rushing attack (USC ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in rushing offense, while Washington St. ranks last).

The same could not be said last Saturday, when Stanford had to deal with both the inspired play of Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. and the beast of a running back that is Royce Freeman. Freeman, coupled with wide receiver Charles Nelson, put up 193 yards on just 18 carries, forcing Stanford to respect the run and get burned by Oregon’s speed in the passing game as a consequence.

The injury to Harris didn’t help, and the news that he will be out for Big Game certainly shifts the dynamics of the matchup greatly in Cal’s favor. Goff, a far better passer than Adams Jr., will likely have a field day passing the ball around the Cardinal’s young and inexperienced secondary.

However, while Cal’s uptempo spread offense resembles Oregon’s, it lacks the same talent at the skill positions, especially in the running game. Vic Enwere and Khalfani Muhammad, the Bears’ primary ball-carriers, have just 991 yards combined on the season (Freeman, for comparison, has nearly 1400). Look for the Stanford defense to have a bounce-back game and effectively shut down the Berkeley rushing attack.

Ultimately, I don’t see Cal being able to sustain drives for four quarters based purely off the arm of Jared Goff, and meanwhile, Christian McCaffrey & Co. should have no problem running all over the Bears’ inadequate defense. While I suspect that Stanford’s rivals from across the Bay will hang close for about a half, the Cardinal will pull away and keep the Axe on the Farm for the sixth straight year.

Olivia: The short answer? No.

The Cardinal were outplayed by an Oregon offense that has hit its stride and figured out how to fill its Mariota-sized gap. As painful as it was to watch, there’s no shame in that.

Coming into last week’s matchup, no one doubted that Oregon’s offense was capable of playing to win. Despite the Ducks’ slow start to the season, they lead the Pac-12 in total offense, with 532.6 yards per game, and they showcased their big-play ability on Saturday as they tore through Stanford’s defense.

Cal, on the other hand, has struggled recently, with its only win in the last five games coming against a mediocre Oregon State squad. The team has yet to beat a ranked opponent, and Stanford fiercely defends its home turf. While Goff and the Bears have registered the second-most yards per game in the conference, their 6-4 record proves they haven’t always managed to capitalize on the yardage.

With the sting of an upset fresh on their minds, the Cardinal defense will be keyed in for Saturday’s matchup. For the first time in a few years, Big Game is a big deal, and something tells me that Stanford won’t be willing to give up the Axe.

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu, Neel Ramachandran at neelr ‘at’ stanford.edu and Olivia Hummer at ohummer ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Leaving a legacy: Bret Bonanni reflects on record-breaking career https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/11/leaving-a-legacy-bret-bonanni-reflects-on-record-breaking-career/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/11/leaving-a-legacy-bret-bonanni-reflects-on-record-breaking-career/#respond Wed, 11 Nov 2015 10:51:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1106786 Bret Bonanni’s first goal was just a basic step out, turn and shoot. “I just remember being so unbelievably tired afterwards,” Bonanni remembers. “I was like, ‘All this for just one goal?’ I was used to basketball where you get two points for dribbling the ball down and shooting or just an easy layup, but […]

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Bret Bonanni’s first goal was just a basic step out, turn and shoot.

“I just remember being so unbelievably tired afterwards,” Bonanni remembers. “I was like, ‘All this for just one goal?’ I was used to basketball where you get two points for dribbling the ball down and shooting or just an easy layup, but with water polo you have to work so much harder. It gave me a really different perspective on what it means to score.”

On Oct. 31, many years after scoring his first goal, the Stanford senior made it look easy when he scored his 333rd career goal. The goal broke Stanford’s and the MPSF’s all-time scoring record, previously held by Stanford All-American and U.S. National Team captain Tony Azevedo ‘04, arguably the best water polo player in recent history.

The goal came with 2:09 left in the second quarter with the Cardinal tied 4-4 against Long Beach State. As Bonanni went on a drive, the goalie dove near side and Bonanni bulleted the ball across the cage for his second goal of the game. He would go on to score a total of six goals against Long Beach and has since tallied 11 more to bring his season total to 82.

“I was trying not to think [about the record], but it was hard not to because everyone makes such a big deal out of it,” Bonanni said. “Most people knew how many I had left, and really I didn’t even know.”

Along with holding Stanford’s and the MPSF all-time scoring record, he’s the only Stanford player to post multiple 90-goal seasons, which he did his sophomore and junior years, and he’s on track to make that three. He currently has the top two single-season scoring records, marking 97 and 96 goals, just ahead of Tony Azevedo’s 2002 95 goal season. On top of that, he is leading the NCAA in scoring for the season.

“I mean it’s pretty amazing,” head coach John Vargas said. “He’s got one gear, and it’s all out. He plays that way, and he trains that way. He goes hard all the time.”

***

Bonanni was 13 when he played his first water polo game. His brother’s team was playing a summer tournament and they didn’t have enough players.

“I was just hanging out and my brother was just like, ‘Hey, you’re playing, we need one more person,’” Bonanni said. He wasn’t even on an official team yet.

Before that game he had only thrown a ball around in his backyard pool, which was equipped with a cage. His older brother was a goalie so Bonanni would often try to take shots on him.

Although he didn’t join a club team until he was 14, Bonanni always loved hanging out at the ocean, and after spending a lot of time in his pool, he felt comfortable in the water. And having played basketball for many years, the transition to water polo wasn’t a big leap because the game format was familiar.

What drew him most to water polo was the physicality of the game.

“In basketball you have to be so cautious with your actions, you can’t just go shove someone,” Bonanni said. “But water polo kind of allows for that.”

Bonanni never left the pool after that, and a few years later would go on to emerge as one of the top recruits of his senior class. In high school, Bonanni scored 435 career goals, was a two-time CIF Southern Section Division I Player of the Year and led Mater Dei to four CIF state championship titles.

But beyond just his impressive resume, Vargas recruited him to The Farm for his impressive work ethic.

“He’s striving to be the best. That’s what he’s always wanted to be,” Vargas said. “When I was recruiting him when he was in high school, he had his goals and nothing was going to get in his way.”

Bonanni quickly made an impression at Stanford when he led the team his freshman season with 73 goals, won MPSF Newcomer of the Year and made the All-MPSF First team. In both his sophomore and junior seasons he made the NCAA All-Tournament First Team along with maintaining superior ACWPC All-Academic status in the classroom.

Yet his extraordinary success at Stanford and his spot on the U.S. National Team haven’t come without a few sacrifices.

When Bonanni was younger he used to love to go snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing, but now that the stakes are higher – namely a trip to the Rio Olympics – he can’t risk injuring himself anymore.

“I haven’t snowboarded in years,” Bonanni said. “I gave both my boards away to my buddies and just said to take them. Skateboarding – same deal. I never was really without a skateboard my whole life and now I don’t even own one.”

Yet Bonanni has not regretted making those sacrifices, and unlike many student-athletes, who sometimes struggle to balance a tough athletic schedule with an intense Stanford course load, Bonanni has never felt any desire to quit or even take a break from the sport.

“I haven’t been burnt out on polo necessarily just because it’s been that sort of escape,” he said. “I can’t even imagine if I were just to constantly go to class and sit in my room all day and just have all these papers looming over my head. It just gives you an outlet in your mind to think somewhere else.”

***

Bonanni will not be returning to The Farm after fall quarter ends because he will be starting what could possibly be his biggest adventure yet – he will be training full time with the U.S. National Team, preparing for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

“If I was to go it would just be an unbelievable dream come true for me, because it’s just such an elite group and such a rare thing,” Bonanni said.

“There is no question that he will be an Olympian,” Vargas said. “And it’s going to be up to him to see how many he wants to go. He has two or three in him if he wants.”

And while Bonanni says he certainly has two or three Olympics on his mind if he has the opportunity, for now he has his sights set on an NCAA Championship.

Although he has lead the team in scoring since his freshman year, he still has no NCAA Championship or even an NCAA runner-up title to show for it.

“We’ve had a few heartbreaking season enders the past few years so this goal is the same as every year – just to put it all together at the end of the season and win a national championship,” he said. “That’s ultimately what’s most important to me and all my teammates.”

And broken records and NCAA championships aside, Bonanni has distinguished himself in ways that can’t be measured.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, and I haven’t really seen someone that can just bring it every single day,” Vargas said. “It’s a hard thing to do and he’s done it his whole time here. It really sets him apart from anyone else.”

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Roundtable: What went wrong against Wazzu? https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/04/roundtable-what-went-wrong-against-wazzu/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/04/roundtable-what-went-wrong-against-wazzu/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2015 11:21:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1106313 Stanford football fans nearly experienced their ultimate Halloween nightmare on Saturday night when then-No. 8 Stanford (7-1, 6-0 Pac-12) narrowly beat unranked Washington State (5-3, 3-2) after the Cougars missed a 43-yard field goal with four seconds left in the game. Potential Heisman candidate Christian McCaffrey was held to only 107 rushing yards against the […]

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Stanford football fans nearly experienced their ultimate Halloween nightmare on Saturday night when then-No. 8 Stanford (7-1, 6-0 Pac-12) narrowly beat unranked Washington State (5-3, 3-2) after the Cougars missed a 43-yard field goal with four seconds left in the game. Potential Heisman candidate Christian McCaffrey was held to only 107 rushing yards against the Cougars, his lowest number since Stanford played USC on Sept. 19. Additionally, Stanford was held out of the endzone for the entire first half and made it into the red zone only once, which resulted in a field goal and the entirety of the team’s points for the first half. So what exactly went wrong for the Cardinal against Washington State, and are they at risk for a similar breakdown at Colorado this Saturday? We asked Daily sports writers Laura Stickells, Alexa Philippou and Taylor Duarte to share their thoughts.

Laura Stickells: I’ve heard plenty of people over the past few days try to attribute Stanford’s struggles against the Cougars to overconfidence or the weather, and those elements could have been contributing factors, but I have a hard time believing that they played the biggest role.

The Washington State linemen jamming the box, limiting McCaffrey to only 51 rushing yards in the first half, were definitely Stanford’s greatest obstacle. Hogan was then forced to use his arm, which was a problem itself, because Hogan’s not out there to throw 60 passes a game like Wazzu quarterback Luke Falk. However, in the second half, the Cougars’ strategy became their own poison. They were so dialed in on McCaffrey that just a simple fake could send all the linemen running in the wrong direction, leaving the field open for a Hogan touchdown. The Washington State defense had to respond by spreading out in order to block Hogan too, leaving more lanes open for McCaffrey.

But I don’t think Stanford will struggle in the same way against Colorado as it did against Washington State. Colorado is coming off a close 35-31 loss to No. 24 UCLA, losing its 20th straight game against a ranked team. So why did this game come out so close? UCLA didn’t have the chance to make big plays because Colorado controlled the ball for over 41 minutes, completely wearing out the UCLA defense. Sound like a familiar strategy?

That’s why the game against Colorado will likely come down to the guys in the trenches. If the Stanford defense can hold Colorado on third downs, keeping Stanford in control of the ball, the Cardinal should return to The Farm still a one-loss team. And I just don’t see Colorado, who is ranked 11th in the Pac-12 in rushing defense, limiting Stanford’s power run game.

Alexa Philippou: While many Cardinal fans were initially shocked to see the team struggle against the Cougars, particularly on the offensive front, there were several factors that made this almost a disaster in the making.

For whatever it’s worth, Stanford has historically not fared too well in road games outside the state of California — not only this past year at Northwestern, but at Oregon, Arizona State and Notre Dame last year and at Utah two years ago. Not to mention, the game on Saturday was played in heavy rain and 52-degree temperatures, conditions that the team has not played in all year and that most teams — let alone the Cardinal, who are blessed with sunny California weather most of football season — rarely see.

But it wasn’t simply the environment that made a difference. Washington State’s defense was able to pressure Hogan and stop McCaffrey more so than other opponents have been able to do this season. Was that a matter of the offensive line playing uncharacteristically poorly or one of Wazzu’s defense playing out of its mind? That may be difficult to determine, but Wazzu’s defenders certainly played aggressively from the start, which makes me think it was more of the latter.

One could argue that Stanford perhaps didn’t adjust soon enough to Wazzu’s defense’s ability to stop McCaffrey on the run and take away several options downfield. Maybe it shouldn’t have taken the team until halftime to get its offense together. But eventually, the team did make those adjustments, something that it hasn’t always done historically and has led to dropped games against teams it could’ve beaten.

While many people pass off the Buffs as the clear underdog, the issue that does scare me about Colorado is the early start time, something that was likely part of the reason why Stanford came out so flat against Northwestern. This game will be played at 10 a.m. PT, and no matter how much the team tries to prepare for an early start, it’s undeniable that it’ll be a different experience, especially since the team has played a slew of Saturday evening games this season.

Taylor Duarte: “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure.” – Andy Grove

Frankly, Stanford indeed looked complacent and ready to fail Saturday night against a Wazzu team looking for the upset. Flashbacks of the meager offensive performance against Northwestern came flooding back.

So what went wrong? Maybe it was the weather in Pullman. The Cardinal don’t really know what a torrential downpour is in drought-ridden California. Maybe Stanford just got too comfortable with success. Demolishing teams had become commonplace, so the team forgot the Washington State air raid had some of its own offensive success.

And then there was Stanford’s offensive line. The Tunnel Workers’ Union looked a little disbanded that night. They were weak on the protection, allowing 4 sacks, and created limited holes for standout Christian McCaffrey to produce another 300-yard night. McCaffrey was limited to just over 100 yards rushing, stunting his highlight reel, and we really don’t want that. But on the heels of true freshman nickelback Quenton Meeks, who had 2 crucial interceptions, and quarterback Kevin Hogan’s 2 rushing touchdowns, the Cardinal finally showed some promise in the second half. The resilience shown by the team ultimately kept the season alive.

When the Cardinal venture to Colorado this weekend, Stanford must remember that its postseason hopes could have been derailed by a field goal. A similar meltdown against the Buffs seems unlikely if the team has a short memory and is not haunted by its Halloween performance. This may have been just the scare Stanford needed to propel it through the rest of the season with dominance. Complacency is its only enemy.

 

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu, Alexa Philippou at aphil723 ‘at’ stanford.edu and Taylor Duarte at taylor3 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s water polo has strong showing in Davis https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/29/mens-water-polo-has-strong-showing-in-davis/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/29/mens-water-polo-has-strong-showing-in-davis/#respond Tue, 29 Sep 2015 08:14:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103993 No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo traveled to Davis, California last weekend and swept Concordia, No. 10 UC Davis, Santa Clara and No. 19 San Jose State at the Aggie Roundup, which took place at the Schaal Aquatics Center. The Cardinal kicked off the weekend on Saturday morning with a 20-3 win over Concordia, highlighted […]

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No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo traveled to Davis, California last weekend and swept Concordia, No. 10 UC Davis, Santa Clara and No. 19 San Jose State at the Aggie Roundup, which took place at the Schaal Aquatics Center.

The Cardinal kicked off the weekend on Saturday morning with a 20-3 win over Concordia, highlighted by junior Justin Roberto’s standout performance, as he led the team with a four-goal streak in the fourth quarter.

Adam Abdulhamid (right)... Stanford competes against UC Irvine at Avery Stadium.  Stanford defeated UC Irvine 12-6.
Adam Abdulhamid (center) scored a total of nine goals in Stanford’s wins over Santa Clara and San Jose and notched 13 over the weekend. (BOB DREBIN/isiphotos.com)

Senior Brett Bonanni started off the weekend’s action and scored the first goal just 30 seconds into the first quarter. Bonanni scored another goal and senior Adam Abdulhamid marked two more before the Eagles could rally with a goal of their own.

Stanford ended the first quarter of play up 5-1 and built its lead to 11-2 by half.

The Cardinal didn’t lose their momentum after the intermission and netted 8 more goals to bring the score to 19-2 with 3:12 left to play in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Grady Williams tallied Stanford’s last point of the match, leaving the score 20-3.

In the afternoon Stanford had another strong match up against host UC Davis, bringing home an 18-6 win.

Bonanni led the team with 6 goals against the Aggies, followed by Abdulhamid with 3.

The Aggies fought back, with the score ending up at 3-2 with five minutes left in the half, but never surpassed the Cardinal. Stanford consistently extended its lead, ending the half leading 7-3.

The Cardinal came back in the third quarter and tallied 5 more goals compared to Davis’s 2. The team had an equally strong showing in the fourth quarter, adding 6 more points to seal the 18-6 victory.

Stanford started off Sunday with another victory, a decisive 18-5 win over Santa Clara lead by Abdulhamid, who notched 5 goals. Junior Reid Chase also contributed 4 goals to the victory.

The Cardinal started off the game strong defensively, holding Santa Clara scoreless for the first quarter.

Santa Clara tightened up the game in the second quarter after a three-point streak, bringing the score to 7-3. Additionally, the Broncos stepped up their defense and held the Cardinal to 7 points until the half.

However, Santa Clara couldn’t hold the Cardinal back in the second half and ended the game with an 18-5 lead.

The Cardinal finished off the weekend with a 20-5 victory over San Jose State, led by Abdulhamid with 4 goals.

The Cardinal led the Spartans 11-2 at the half, adding 3 more goals in the third and finished the game off strong with 6 more goals in the fourth.

Senior BJ Churnside, junior Jackson Kimbell and freshman Marco Stanchi posted 2 goals each for the match.

The Cardinal will travel to Los Angeles next Saturday to face No. 3 USC, whom they beat on Sept. 20 in the semifinals of the Kap7 NorCal Invitational. The matchup against the Trojans will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s water polo falls short against No. 1 UCLA https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/21/mens-water-polo-falls-short-against-no-1-ucla/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/21/mens-water-polo-falls-short-against-no-1-ucla/#respond Mon, 21 Sep 2015 08:25:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103532 For the majority of the second half on Sunday evening at the Avery Aquatic Center, it looked like the No. 4 Stanford men’s water polo team (8-1) would come from behind to take the championship game of the Kap7 NorCal Invitational from No. 1 UCLA (9-0). Unfortunately, the comeback fell just short. Following a UCLA […]

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For the majority of the second half on Sunday evening at the Avery Aquatic Center, it looked like the No. 4 Stanford men’s water polo team (8-1) would come from behind to take the championship game of the Kap7 NorCal Invitational from No. 1 UCLA (9-0). Unfortunately, the comeback fell just short.

Following a UCLA goal, putting the Bruins up 6-3 with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter, Stanford head coach John Vargas called a critical timeout.

Stanford, CA; Saturday September 19, 2015; Men's Water Polo, Stanford vs Long Beach State.
In the championship game of the Kap7 NorCal Invitational between Stanford and UCLA, Cardinal sophomore Mitchell Mendoza (above) scored a pivotal goal to bring Stanford within one against the number-one team in the country. Ultimately, Stanford’s comeback fell short as the team lost 8-7. (HECTOR GARCIA-MOLIA/stanfordphoto.com)

“We just came in and said, ‘Guys, there is a lot of game left to play. Just focus on one possession at a time,’” said assistant coach Jonathan Barnea after the game.

The pep talk worked, and the Cardinal came back to tie up the game in less than two minutes. A goal from senior Bret Bonanni was followed 44 seconds later by a goal from sophomore Mitchell Mendoza. Forty five seconds after that, Bonanni squared up the game at 6-6.

The Bruins pulled away again with a goal at the end of the third quarter from Team USA member Ryder Roberts. A goal by UCLA’s Chancellor Ramirez with 4:52 left in the fourth quarter expanded the Bruins lead to 8-6.

With 2:27 left in the fourth quarter, UCLA goalkeeper Garrett Danner blocked a Bonanni penalty shot, which ultimately became a critical miss for the Cardinal, although Bonanni later scored with 48 seconds on the clock to bring the score to 8-7. With a Stanford penalty with 19 seconds left in the game, the Bruins were able to control the ball to bring in the win.

Although the tournament culminated in a disappointing loss, it’s impossible not to notice the overwhelming strength in the Cardinal’s defense.

The Cardinal began the weekend with a shutout of Santa Clara led by second-string sophomore goalkeeper Oliver Lewis.

“Any time you are able to shut a team out, the goalie for sure is going to come up with a couple great saves, but that’s a team effort at the defensive end of the pool,” said Barnea.

Additionally, the Cardinal held both No. 7 Long Beach State and No. 2 USC scoreless until half.

Although Bonanni led the team with three goals against UCLA, he wasn’t as dominant in this tournament as he was in the Cardinal’s debut at the Bruno Classic from Sept. 5-6 in Cambridge, MA and Providence, RI.

“Teams are clearly focused on Brett being a good goal scorer, and they’re scheming defensively to get the ball out of his hand,” Barnea added.

Other members on the team were able to step up in response to the strong defense on Bonanni, including Mendoza, who led the team in the 6-5 victory over USC in the semifinal game with a hat trick.

“It was a great team effort all weekend long, there wasn’t one guy that put the team on his back and said ‘here we go,’” Barnea said. “It was really everyone playing their part, doing their roles, and having a good weekend.”

The Cardinal will continue play next weekend at the Aggie Shootout in Davis, California. Stanford is scheduled to start the tournament against Concordia University of California at noon on Saturday, Sept. 26, followed by UC Davis, Santa Clara and San Jose State.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Water polo sweeps Bruno Classic https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/07/water-polo-sweeps-bruno-classic/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/07/water-polo-sweeps-bruno-classic/#respond Mon, 07 Sep 2015 10:15:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103118 Stanford men’s water polo opened its season at the Bruno Classic this past weekend in Cambridge, Mass. and Providence, R.I. with a 5-0 sweep. Senior Bret Bonanni led the team throughout the tournament, marking 27 goals, and is now 40 goals shy of breaking former Cardinal Tony Azevedo’s ’04 school scoring record of 332 goals. […]

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Stanford men’s water polo opened its season at the Bruno Classic this past weekend in Cambridge, Mass. and Providence, R.I. with a 5-0 sweep.

(HECTOR GARCIA MOLINA/stanfordphoto.com)
Bret Bonanni (above) notched 27 goals during the Cardinal’s season-opening tournament. Last season he scored a conference-leading 96 goals and was the team’s only player to score in all 30 games. (HECTOR GARCIA MOLINA/stanfordphoto.com)

Senior Bret Bonanni led the team throughout the tournament, marking 27 goals, and is now 40 goals shy of breaking former Cardinal Tony Azevedo’s ’04 school scoring record of 332 goals.

In Stanford’s first match against No. 19 MIT, Bonanni’s 9 goals helped lead the Cardinal to a 29-9 victory. Stanford held MIT scoreless during the first quarter, scoring seven points before MIT could rally with a point of their own. Going into the second half, Stanford led 15-4 and scored 14 more points after intermission compared to MIT’s five.

Freshman Kyle Weikert had a breakout game during Stanford’s 21-5 victory against unranked Harvard on Saturday, leading the Cardinal with five points, four of which were scored in the second half.

Although Harvard put the first point on the board, Stanford was quick to shut the Crimson down, scoring eight points – three of them in less than 45 seconds – before they could respond.

Stanford kept Harvard off the board for ten minutes as the Cardinal built their lead with five more goals from redshirt junior Adam Abdulhamid, Bonanni, sophomore Cody Smith and freshman March Stanchi.

Stanford dominated Harvard in the second half of the game, scoring 11 more points compared to Harvard’s two.

On Sunday morning the Stanford team continued to demonstrate its complete control in the pool when they cruised to a 20-4 victory over No. 19 Bucknell.

The game was scoreless until the fourth minute when Bucknell made the first shot. Stanford responded with nine-goal streak to end the half.

Even when Bucknell was in man-up situations, the Cardinal still held the Bison at bay, mostly preventing them from capitalizing on the opportunity. In the 11 situations when Stanford had one less man in the pool, Bucknell scored only two points.

Stanford scored six more times in the third quarter and completed the victory with five more points in the fourth quarter.

Stanford continued its winning streak with a 19-3 win over No. 17 Saint Francis of New York. Stanford scored the first five points of the match before St. Francis could rally. The Cardinal entered the half with a nine-point lead.

St. Francis made an effort to come out strong in the second half, scoring the first point, but Stanford squashed any hope the Terriers had of making a recovery and scored the next nine points. St. Francis closed out the match with one last point although hope was already lost, as the match ended with a 19-3 win for the Cardinal.

To complete the sweep the Cardinal defeated No. 11 Brown 19-6 Sunday afternoon. After the half the Cardinal led Brown 10-4. Stanford scored five more goals in the third quarter and four more in the fourth.

Stanford will return to the Farm to host the Kap7 NorCal Invitational from September 19-20 at the Avery Aquatic Center.

The match ups have yet to be decided but it is likely that Stanford will face at least one of the top three teams – UCLA, USC or Cal – at some point that weekend.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Pieces in place for men’s water polo to contend for national title https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/05/pieces-in-place-for-mens-water-polo-to-contend-for-national-title/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/05/pieces-in-place-for-mens-water-polo-to-contend-for-national-title/#respond Sat, 05 Sep 2015 08:47:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103075 Coming off its second consecutive third-place finish at the NCAA tournament, its highest win total since 1994, and its first MPSF Championship win since 2004, the Stanford men’s water polo team has many reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season. However, even though the team closed out last season with an impressive 26-4 record, the […]

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Coming off its second consecutive third-place finish at the NCAA tournament, its highest win total since 1994, and its first MPSF Championship win since 2004, the Stanford men’s water polo team has many reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season.

However, even though the team closed out last season with an impressive 26-4 record, the disappointment of losing a spot in the NCAA championship game in sudden death overtime to USC — a team it had beat earlier that fall — is what the squad had to take away from the season.

Senior driver Bret Bonnani (KAREN AMBROSE HICKEY/stanfordphoto.com)
Senior driver Bret Bonnani will anchor the Cardinal offense after scoring 96 goals last season. He needs only 66 more to set the MPSF all-time scoring record. (KAREN AMBROSE HICKEY/stanfordphoto.com)

The loss to the Trojans kept Stanford out of the championship game, prolonging the program’s championship drought for 12 years. This is the longest period the team has gone without winning a national championship, the second longest lasting only seven years.

This year the team sits at the number four spot on the Varsity Preseason Top 20 poll with 87 points. Defending national champion UCLA tops the poll with 99 points, followed closely by USC and Cal with 93 and 90 points, respectively.

Even with three very strong teams ahead of it, the 2015 team, composed of strong veterans and fresh talent, could be the team that breaks the dry spell to bring home Stanford men’s water polo’s 11th NCAA championship.

Stanford is returning four of its top five scorers from last season, including senior Bret Bonanni, who will look to set a new MPSF all-time scoring record. Bonanni needs 66 goals to pass former Cardinal Tony Azevedo ’04, whose record stands at 332. He is also the only player in program history to record two 90-goal seasons.

Bonnani will be joined by a host of other offensive threats in senior BJ Churnside, redshirt junior Adam Abdulhamid and sophomore Cody Smith. The four players alone scored 48 percent of the 453 goals tallied last season.

Out of the three players who graduated, Alex Bowen will be the hardest player to replace. Bowen was the Cardinal’s second-best scorer last season, notching 65 goals and 19 multi-goal games. However, the few losses are more than made up for by the plethora of returning talent.

On the defensive end, the team shouldn’t be too far removed from the 2014 squad that was second in the MPSF in goals allowed per game. Junior goalkeeper Drew Holland looks to pick up where he left off last season; in each of his last four games, he marked 10 saves or more.

Stanford will perhaps get an NCAA tournament preview during the Nor Cal Stanford Invitational on Sept. 19 and 20. Although the matchups have yet to be decided, it’s likely Stanford will face UCLA, USC or Cal at some point that weekend.

For now, The Cardinal will kick off their season on Sept. 5 at the Bruno Classic against No. 19 MIT. The competition will continue through Sunday afternoon. Stanford is scheduled to play Harvard, No. 19 Bucknell, No. 17 St. Francis and No. 11 Brown.

With a slew of ranked opponents testing it early on, the team will get to work right away and hopefully develop a solid rhythm as the formidable opponents get closer. With the strong presence of returning talent, Stanford should hopefully have all that it needs to once again make a serious run at a national championship.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Freshman, golfer, national champion: Shannon Aubert makes it all look easy https://stanforddaily.com/2015/06/06/freshman-golfer-national-champion-shannon-aubert-makes-it-all-look-easy/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/06/06/freshman-golfer-national-champion-shannon-aubert-makes-it-all-look-easy/#comments Sat, 06 Jun 2015 08:25:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101878 Freshman golfer Shannon Aubert was born into a family of athletes. Her mom was a figure skater for the South African national team, her dad was a downhill skier, and it quickly became obvious that Aubert would be an athlete too. When she was young, she competitively figure skated and skied; she played basketball, baseball […]

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Freshman golfer Shannon Aubert was born into a family of athletes. Her mom was a figure skater for the South African national team, her dad was a downhill skier, and it quickly became obvious that Aubert would be an athlete too.

When she was young, she competitively figure skated and skied; she played basketball, baseball and soccer, but she never found any of sports challenging enough for her.

“I would just very easily get bored with things,” Aubert said about the sports she tried when she was younger.

But that changed completely when she was introduced to golf at age seven.

Aubert’s mother remembers the first time she took her daughter golfing.

“I bought her a child’s club to keep her happy and was astounded to find that she was a complete natural.”

Aubert didn’t see herself as a natural the way her mother did. In fact, golf was actually the first sport in her life she found challenging.

Right away, Aubert started practicing seven days a week for three or four hours a day. Her mom was the one who took her to the course, but it was Aubert who really wanted to be there. Even though she practiced constantly, she wasn’t able to master it like the other sports she tried.

“It just never got easy,” Aubert said.

When Shannon was nine, she moved away from her parents who were living in Switzerland, to go live in Indonesia with a family friend.

Although getting better schooling was one of the reasons for Aubert’s move to Indonesia, most of it had to do with golf. Playing golf in Switzerland was very inconvenient because of the cold winters, and so she moved to Indonesia to practice year-round.

Aubert didn’t find the move tough, though. She had been moving from country to country with her family since birth. In order to recite all the countries she’s lived in — France, South Africa, Morocco, Switzerland, Mexico, Corsica, the Caribbean, Singapore, Indonesia, and the United States — she has to read from a list on her phone to make sure she doesn’t forget one.

When she was only eight years old, she was already one of the best golfers in the world for her age. She began competing for the South African national team. When she was 11, she moved to the United States to get a better education — and it didn’t hurt that the United States had the best golf opportunities as well. At 14, she started playing for the French national team and still competes for France during the summers.

In the end, she committed to Stanford at the beginning of her senior year because it had the best mix of athletics and academics. Stanford is definitely happy to have her on board.

After only one year on the Farm, she helped lead the women’s golf team to its first ever NCAA title, winning all three of her matches in match play in Florida last week.

Aubert won all of her matches with at least two holes left to play, making all three of them look rather easy.

“Shannon is an incredible athlete,” said women’s golf head coach Anne Walker. “Her swing is one of the more impressive swings in college golf.”

***

Going into the NCAA tournament, the Stanford team had almost completely fallen off the national radar.

The team started out ranked No. 1 in the Golf Week polls and the Cardinal stayed within the top five throughout the fall. But the winter and spring quarters proved to be trouble for the Cardinal — some of Aubert’s teammates were injured, and in February, she developed an ovarian cyst that had to be surgically removed, sidelining her for three weeks. After this chaos, the Stanford team dropped significantly in the polls.

“It was hard for us to get everything together, so we dropped in the rankings to like No. 13 or so,” Aubert said.

However, when the team got to nationals they were fully recovered and knew they belonged there.

After the first four days of stroke play, the Cardinal entered the match play round of the national championship ranked fourth out of the eight remaining teams.

The first day, Aubert played two matches — a total of 36 holes.

“You knew it was going to be a long day,” Aubert said.

The Cardinal played Arizona in the morning. Aubert won her match easily, and the Cardinal cruised to a 4-1 victory over the current Pac-12 champions.

But Aubert wasn’t feeling as great in the afternoon. The Cardinal were preparing to play USC, the top-seeded team and tournament leader.

Aubert was paired off to play Annie Park, who had won the individual NCAA title two years earlier as a freshman.

Aubert did not think she could pull off a win against Park, whom she had played against since she was 14. She, quite simply, considered herself outmatched.

“She hits it a lot farther than me, like a lot,” Aubert said. “Like 20, 30, 40 yards depending on the hole.”

But she knew that she would need to focus on her own game to get the team a win. She recognized she couldn’t hit as far, and if she tried to hit as far, she would only get frustrated. Instead, she just focused on keeping her own score.

Aubert won the first hole, but she knew not to get ahead of herself.

“One hole is so small in the grand scheme,” she said.

But Aubert never once let Park get ahead of her and won the match 4-and-2.

Later on, in the final day of the NCAA championships, Aubert cruised to a 4-and-3 victory against Baylor’s Lauren White to give Stanford a crucial point that made Mariah Stackhouse’s dramatic comeback possible.

“I played really well,” she said. “I shot like three- or four-under that day so I didn’t give her much opportunity to cut into any lead.”

But outside of her own match, Aubert knew she had to support her teammates.

Throughout her match, she thought the Stanford team was doing well, perhaps because she was so submersed in her own game.  But when she finally looked at the leaderboard walking to the 15th hole, she saw the team was down in three matches and tied in one.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is not looking great,’” she said.

As soon as she finished her match, though, she ran up to cheer on sophomore teammate Casey Danielson, who was playing in front of her and was all tied up.

“It really helps to have people there cheering you on, and if you’re playing and people are cheering for the person you are playing against, it’s hard to get over that.”

Danielson clinched a 2-up win.

“I know [the support] helped and she played really well her last two holes,” Aubert said.

The team then ran back down the course to cheer on junior All-American Mariah Stackhouse, who, as everyone now remembers, won each of the next three holes with her back against the wall to complete a dramatic comeback and bring home the national championship.

“We just all erupted and screamed and then we all started sobbing,” Aubert said.

“She deserves this victory,” said Walker about Aubert. “She belongs on the big stage and we saw that this week.”

***

Throughout her career, Aubert has won the Dixie Amateur, was a two-time Florida State Champion and won the European Armature Team Championship with the French national team.

However, none of those other victories were as special to her as winning the national championship was last week.

Aubert explained that her teammates are with her almost every day and they go out of their way to spend time with each other off the course. Compared to the other teams she’s played on, she thinks that the Stanford team is much closer and feels much more like a family than like a team.

“I’ve had experiences where you win and it’s amazing,” Aubert said. “But it was never quite the same because here, we care about each other so much that it just means so much more to be able to share it with the people you love.”

Tens of thousands of hours of hard work went into making the national championship possible for Aubert and her teammates. As in any other sport, Aubert explains that it takes time and patience, and it’s often easy to become burnt out.

But she never quit, because to her, all of those miserable hours are worth it.

“We do it just to have moments like that, like the national championship,” she said. “That shows us all that the hard work, all the hours and the sweat and the stress and the annoyance and everything — when that happens, it all disappears.” Aubert says.  “You’d do it a thousand times over just to experience a moment like that again.”

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Katie Novotny shoots her way to a national title despite lack of experience https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/26/katie-novotny-shoots-her-way-to-a-national-title-despite-lack-of-experience/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/26/katie-novotny-shoots-her-way-to-a-national-title-despite-lack-of-experience/#respond Wed, 27 May 2015 05:57:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101558 On May 17, sophomore Katie Novotny brought home the gold medal at the 2015 Intercollegiate Archery Championships at the Easton Newberry Center in Newberry, Florida. “The last round was nerve-wracking,” Novotny said, reflecting on her big win from a few weeks earlier, where she came out on top out of about 150 other competitors. Although Novotny […]

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On May 17, sophomore Katie Novotny brought home the gold medal at the 2015 Intercollegiate Archery Championships at the Easton Newberry Center in Newberry, Florida.

“The last round was nerve-wracking,” Novotny said, reflecting on her big win from a few weeks earlier, where she came out on top out of about 150 other competitors.

Although Novotny has had big success competing for the Cardinal this year, archery is a relatively new sport for her — she actually only began archery the winter of her freshman year.

“Last January, I saw [a team poster] and was like, ‘Oh — I really want to do this. I’ll just try,’” she said.

It didn’t take long for Novotny to fall in love with the sport.

“It’s relaxing,” she said. “It requires a lot of focus, so instead of worrying about school, there’s that two-hour-long block a day where you just don’t think about that.”

Novotny admits that she had a pretty rough introduction to archery. Because she started during winter quarter, the other freshmen already had a head start on her, forcing her to play catch-up. She began with shooting a type of bow called the recurve.

“Shooting the recurve was really quite difficult for me,” she says — because Novotny has a fairly small stature and the recurve is a large bow, it was hard for her to get enough energy out of the bow.

As a result, she shot in two tournaments her freshman year and didn’t do too well.

“I just could not hit the target,” Novotny said.

After her second tournament, her coach set up a different type of bow for her called a bow hunter, which was much more suited for her size.

When she got her new bow, there were only two weeks left in spring quarter. She spent that time getting used to the new bow before bringing it home with her to Colorado over summer vacation so she could get in extra practice.

By the time she returned to the Farm in the fall, she was ready to work hard, and she now practices nine hours a week on Stanford’s shooting range. She also spends an extra hour a week at a local indoor shooting range. On top of that, she lifts weights twice a week and runs the rest of the week so she can keep up her endurance.

At the Intercollegiate Championships in Florida, it was obvious that her hard work had paid off: She won the qualifying round easily by 32 points. Novotny says that qualifying rounds are easier for her because she just needs to focus on herself.

However, the final round, the Olympic round, is done differently.

“It’s bracket-style,” Novotny said. “You shoot off against one other person and then you make your way down.”

Novotny says that Olympic rounds are not her specialty because it’s much easier for her to focus on her competitor and to get distracted instead of focusing on her own shooting.

In the final round in Florida, though, she says she had some help. Her arrow rest, which is where she sets her bow, was cracked. Because of this, her arrow was not going where it normally would, so she had to adjust accordingly.

Although most people would see this as a problem, Novotny used this as an opportunity to focus more on where she had to aim her arrows, which took her focus off of her opponent.

“It was a good learning experience more than anything else,” Novotny said. “Just focus on your shooting, not how you’re shooting compared to the other person.”

Novotny ended up winning the final round, edging out UC Irvine’s Katie Robinson by only six points.

This past weekend, Novotny competed in the U.S. National Outdoor Collegiate Championship in Virginia, where she won the qualifying round. She ultimately came in fourth out of a field of around 200, winning All-American honors.

Despite the many accolades of this season, Novotny is already looking forward to the heights she can climb to next year with all of these experiences already under her belt.

“I’ll probably switch to compound freestyle,” she says.

Compound freestyle is a steadier bow but it requires greater precision. She is also planning on shooting in some non-collegiate tournaments this summer for practice.

Novotny explains that in the end, archery is just a mental game and the right mentality is what makes a good archer great.

“Everyone knows how to shoot,” she says. “It’s whether or not you can do it in that moment.”

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Women’s sailing wins conference champs, nationals on the horizon https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/01/womens-sailing-wins-conference-champs-nationals-on-the-horizon/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/01/womens-sailing-wins-conference-champs-nationals-on-the-horizon/#respond Fri, 01 May 2015 09:30:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100227 Despite starting the season outside of the top 10 in the Sailing World Poll, the Stanford sailing team has staged a strong comeback throughout this year, most recently jumping to fifth in the rankings after a successful spring season. “The biggest difference between the fall and the spring was just execution down the stretch at […]

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Despite starting the season outside of the top 10 in the Sailing World Poll, the Stanford sailing team has staged a strong comeback throughout this year, most recently jumping to fifth in the rankings after a successful spring season.

“The biggest difference between the fall and the spring was just execution down the stretch at regattas and some maturity from our younger guys,” sophomore crew J.P. Cannistraro said.

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Despite losing 11 seniors last season, the Cardinal has had an impressive season. Despite starting off outside the top 10, the team is now ranked as fifth in the nation and looks to leave its mark during the Spring National Championships. (GANI PINERO/isiphotos.com)

The Cardinal graduated 11 seniors last season and eight new freshmen came in to replace them. The women’s team in particular graduated 100 percent of their starting players last year.

“We had some sophomores that needed to step up right away and they really did,” head coach John Vandemoer said.

Because there was such a big incoming class this year, there was more switching around between skipper and crew combinations in the fall, explained freshman crew Kennedy Placek. Now that the individual teams are more settled in, the team as a whole has been able to progress more quickly.

Although the team has made progress in the polls, the sailors still try to not let the World Sailing rankings get to their heads.

“If you’re at the bottom or if you’re at the top you really have to take it with a grain of salt,” said senior skipper and team captain Kieran Chung.

Chung explained that because sailing is such an open-field sport, it’s hard to rely just on the rankings. If you aren’t on the favored side of the starting line or you don’t hit the right wind shift, then it doesn’t matter what your team is ranked.

But being one of the best teams in the country isn’t easy for the Cardinal for a number of reasons.

Almost every weekend, the team has to travel to a sailing regatta on the east coast, and dealing with a three-hour time change can be tough. But the team makes it work. The coaches stagger who is racing when to make sure that the athletes are not flying to the East Coast on back-to-back weekends.

“We are actually giving our players more time off than the East Coast teams are,” explained Vandemoer.

On the East Coast, the best sailors sail every weekend without a break and that is not the case at Stanford.

Also, practicing for sailing is very different than practicing for other sports. For example, most basketball teams have at least 10 players, so in practice they can scrimmage five on five. When the sailing team travels to fleet races there are 18 boats on the line.

“We don’t have 18 boats ever on the line at practice,” Cannistraro said.

It’s also impossible to know what conditions the team will be dealing with at any given regatta.

“It keeps you on your toes; it keeps you thinking all the time,” Cannistraro added. “You have to be ready for anything.”

The women’s sailing team competed in its conference championships on April 19, finishing first out of 12 teams, earning its ticket to nationals at the end of May. The Stanford team finished with 34 points, 36 points better than second-place UC Santa Barbara.

Sophomore skipper Maeve White explained that at their conference championships, they were focusing on not sailing down to the level of the fleet.

“It’s really easy to just sail down to their level and get trapped in the dumb stuff that they might do,” White said.

The co-ed team hopes to earn its trip to the national championship as well this weekend. The conference championship is taking place this weekend at Stanford’s boathouse in Redwood City. Fleet racing will be held on Friday and Saturday with the Carter Ford Team Race Conference Championship finishing off the weekend on Sunday.

But the competition will be a little stiffer this weekend than it was for the women’s team in Santa Barbra.

“For the co-ed side I think the fleet is better,” Vandemoer said.

But he hopes the team racing portion on Sunday will be an easy win for the Cardinal. Vandemoer wants the team to focus on sailing away from the other boats, and rely on speed and boat handling to win races.

However, the Stanford team is already looking past this weekend at bigger regattas coming up soon, namely the Spring National Championships hosted by New York Yacht Club from May 25 – June 4.

In sailing, there are six national championships: three in the fall and three in the spring. The team with the best total at the end of the year wins the overall trophy. The Spring National Championships will conclude this package.

“We really have a chance to win the final trophy,” Vandemoer said. “We are hoping that will be a big win for us at the end of the season.”

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sand volleyball closes out season with consecutive victories https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/27/sand-volleyball-closes-out-season-with-consecutive-victories/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/27/sand-volleyball-closes-out-season-with-consecutive-victories/#respond Tue, 28 Apr 2015 06:16:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1099981 The Stanford sand volleyball team (11-4) finished up its season strong with a 3-2 win at home against Santa Clara on Thursday and another 3-2 victory against Cal in Berkeley on Sunday. The Thursday win over the Santa Clara Broncos (7-7) wasn’t easy. The Cardinal suffered an early loss when the No. 4 pair of sophomore Kelsey Humphreys and […]

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The Stanford sand volleyball team (11-4) finished up its season strong with a 3-2 win at home against Santa Clara on Thursday and another 3-2 victory against Cal in Berkeley on Sunday.

The Thursday win over the Santa Clara Broncos (7-7) wasn’t easy. The Cardinal suffered an early loss when the No. 4 pair of sophomore Kelsey Humphreys and freshman Catherine Raquel lost both of their first two matches by a score of 21-16.

(AVI BAGLA/The Stanford Daily)
After facing stiff competition from the No. 1 pair of Santa Clara, senior Lauren Birks and her partner junior Brittany Howard bounced back against Cal to record a match-clinching three set win. (AVI BAGLA/The Stanford Daily)

No. 5-seeded junior Inky Ajanaku and sophomore Grace Kennedy tied the match when they went 21-12, 19-21 and dominated their last game with a 15-5 win.

The No. 1 pair for the Cardinal, senior Lauren Birks and junior Brittany Howard, suffered another loss when they went 11-21 and 23-25 in their first two sets. Stanford came back to snag the win, however, when the No. 2 pair of junior Madi Bugg and sophomore Ivana Vanjak and the No. 3 pair of junior Jordan Burgess and sophomore Merete Lutz both had dominating performances.

After the game against Santa Clara, the team was ready to get back on the road and finish off its season against rival UC Berkeley (7-15). The Stanford indoor volleyball team — which also comprises the majority of the sand team — already beat Cal 3-0 twice this year and was ready to do the same on the sand.

“It’s a good rivalry any time you have those uniforms opposite each other,” said head coach John Dunning.

“In terms of competition level, they’re about the same as us,” said Burgess, an All-American outside hitter when playing indoors. “All the matches should be really good.”

Playing on the Bears’ sand courts for the first time in program and rivalry history, the Stanford team struggled early on when both the No. 4 and 5 pairs lost their matches.

But the team quickly recovered. The No. 3 pair of Burgess and Lutz lost their first game 18-21 but came back to win the final two 21-18, 15-10. The No. 2 team had a dominating performance, shutting out the Bears with a 21-16, 22-20 win. Sealing the deal were Howard and Birks, who went 21-16, 15-21, 15-11.

“Our game came down to the wire, which was really satisfying for us as a pair to finish out our successful season,” Birks said. “It was a great day for our team to go to another team’s court and take care of business.”

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sand volleyball avenges earlier loss to Pacific https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/14/sand-volleyball-avenges-earlier-loss-to-pacific/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/14/sand-volleyball-avenges-earlier-loss-to-pacific/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2015 05:52:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1099030 The Stanford sand volleyball team came back with a vengeance to beat the University of Pacific on Tuesday, winning 3-2 in the new Stanford Sand Volleyball Stadium. The Cardinal avenged a 5-0 sweep at the hands of the Tigers from the beginning of March. “There were a lot of things we took back from [the […]

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The Stanford sand volleyball team came back with a vengeance to beat the University of Pacific on Tuesday, winning 3-2 in the new Stanford Sand Volleyball Stadium. The Cardinal avenged a 5-0 sweep at the hands of the Tigers from the beginning of March.

“There were a lot of things we took back from [the Stanford Invitational] as a team and as a pair that we wanted to work on, so it was really cool to see us implement that into our game,” senior outside hitter Lauren Birks said.

Junior outside-hitter Brittany Howard (abvoe) was an integral part of Stanford's success in the Stanford Invitational this past weekend, along with partner Lauren Birk. (BOB DREBIN/stanfordphotos.com).
Junior outside hitter Brittany Howard was an integral part of Stanford’s success in the Stanford Invitational this past weekend, along with partner Lauren Birks. (BOB DREBIN/stanfordphotos.com).

The match started out with an exciting win from the No. 5 pair Inky Ajanaku and Grace Kennedy. They lost a tight first set, 21-19, but quickly recovered, winning their second set 21-15 and their third, 16-14 in overtime.

“They played really well in the moment when they had to,” head coach John Dunning said about the pair.

Stanford’s No. 2 team, Madi Bugg and Ivana Vanjak, also snagged a win for the Cardinal, defeating Pacific’s Mia Feiner and Gillian Howard in two sets, 21-15, 21-19.

Securing the final win for the Cardinal was the No. 1 pair Lauren Birks and Brittany Howard. They played a dynamic first set, winning in overtime 26-24, and then sealed off the victory with a 21-18 win. But the No. 1 pair noted that it has elements to improve on before the end of the season.

“It needs to be from the very first play that we are playing cleanly,” Howard said.

“The really neat thing out here is that we are getting better every single day we come out,” Dunning said. “We have players that are playing at a much higher level than they were before.”

Stanford now has a week off before it welcomes Saint Mary’s to the Farm and the new stadium next Tuesday. The match is set for a 4:30 p.m. start.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu,

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Sand volleyball hosts invitational this weekend https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/10/sand-volleyball-hosts-invitational-this-weekend/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/10/sand-volleyball-hosts-invitational-this-weekend/#respond Fri, 10 Apr 2015 07:21:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098686 After dealing with unfavorable conditions in last weekend’s Surf ‘n Turf Invitational, Stanford sand volleyball will return to familiar territory when it hosts its invitational tournament this weekend Despite beating Carson Newman and Webber International in Miami, the Cardinal suffered two losses against Florida Atlantic and No. 6 Florida International. But the tournament didn’t provide […]

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After dealing with unfavorable conditions in last weekend’s Surf ‘n Turf Invitational, Stanford sand volleyball will return to familiar territory when it hosts its invitational tournament this weekend

Despite beating Carson Newman and Webber International in Miami, the Cardinal suffered two losses against Florida Atlantic and No. 6 Florida International. But the tournament didn’t provide easy conditions for the Cardinal — the team had to wake up at 3 a.m. Pacific time for three straight days.

Madi Bugg
Junior setter Madi Bugg (left) is proud of the changes that the sand volleyball team has made. (DON FERIA/isiphotos.com)

In addition, the wind on South Beach added a new element that the Stanford team was not used to.

“It brings in a whole different set of variables and changes the strategy involved, so that was difficult to adjust to and I was really proud of how quickly we made those changes,” said junior setter Madi Bugg.

However, the Cardinal won’t need to worry about the wind this weekend on the friendly sands of the Farm. Seven sand volleyball teams — California, Cal Poly, Oregon, Saint Mary’s, Stanford, No. 8 UCLA and Washington — will compete this weekend for the Stanford Invitational.

The team is excited for a home tournament and to have its fans supporting it, but it can be hard to concentrate as well.

“It is [hard finding] the balance between relaxed and focused, especially outside when it kind of has the atmosphere of a barbecue, we have to constantly work to stay totally on our game,” Bugg said.

Stanford will begin play against the Ducks on Friday, April 10 at 2 p.m. at the stadium courts. The Ducks have had a rough start to their season, having lost their first dual matchup 5-0 to the University of Washington on April 4.

On Saturday, the Cardinal will go on to play what should be their toughest competitor, No. 8 UCLA, at 9 a.m. at the stadium courts. The Bruins (5-1) lost their first dual matchup of the season on April 4 when they were swept by Long Beach State.

Stanford will conclude the team tournament with the Mustangs (2-11) Saturday at 3 p.m. The pairs tournament will be held on Sunday, April 12.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sand volleyball starts to differentiate itself from indoor https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/02/sand-volleyball-starts-to-differentiate-itself-from-indoor/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/02/sand-volleyball-starts-to-differentiate-itself-from-indoor/#respond Fri, 03 Apr 2015 06:58:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098216 With formidable wins thus far, the Stanford sand volleyball team is having its best season since its inception in 2013. In addition to finishing second out of eight teams at the NorCal Invitational in early March, the Cardinal recently swept San Jose State 5-0. However, it hasn’t been easy for the team to become a serious […]

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With formidable wins thus far, the Stanford sand volleyball team is having its best season since its inception in 2013. In addition to finishing second out of eight teams at the NorCal Invitational in early March, the Cardinal recently swept San Jose State 5-0.

However, it hasn’t been easy for the team to become a serious competitor on the sand. While most other teams have completely separate indoor and sand programs, the Stanford volleyball team divides its time by preparing for both indoor and sand competitions.

Lauren Birks
Senior outside hitter Lauren Birks (above), who is the only senior sand-only volleyball player, looks forward to competing in the Surf ‘n Turf Invitational. (KAREN AMBROSE HICKEY/stanfordphoto.com)

Unlike many other colleges where the rosters are comprised almost completely of sand-only players, Stanford has five sand-only players. In its inaugural year, the team was completely comprised of indoor players and only signed on two non-indoor players last season. Additionally, last season, the sand team only had five practices before their first tournament in Hawaii.

“When we started two and a half years ago, our exposure to the game was very minor,” head sand and indoor volleyball coach John Dunning said.

Nevertheless, things are different this year. The team switched their training block back to the beginning of winter quarter.

“We trained eight weeks before our first tournament which made a huge difference,” said junior outside hitter Brittany Howard, who only began taking sand volleyball seriously when she arrived on the Farm in 2012.

“It’s been incredible to see how much we’ve all improved throughout the preseason until now,” senior outside hitter Lauren Birks said.

The new state-of-the-art sand facility donated by John Arrillaga has also helped step up the team’s game. Before, the team practiced on the sand courts by the Arrillaga Center for Sports and Recreation, and only four pairs could practice at a time. Now all eight pairs can practice at once, and the practices have become more efficient. The courts were also very visible to the public.

“We would sort of feel like we were on display,” Howard said. “Having the new courts has changed our mentality. This is a real deal.”

Although sand volleyball was originally instituted as a Stanford sport in part to allow indoor players to practice more in the off-season — the NCAA only allows athletes to practice eight hours a week out of season play — it is distinguishing itself as more of its own program, with plans to be comprised mostly of sand-only players in the near future.

The team is continuing to recruit sand-only players. In the 2015 indoor recruiting class, there are players who also know how to play sand.

“My guess is that it won’t be too long, where the team gets to be half indoor half outdoor,” Dunning said. “The best teams are sand-only teams.”

This is in part because the skillsets for sand and indoor volleyball, although seemingly similar, are actually very different. In indoor volleyball, each player has a very specialized skill set for her position. In sand, because there are only two players, they have to be good at everything. Sand volleyball has been instrumental in developing the team’s ball control, for example.

“I think it’s really helping everyone’s all-around game,” Howard said.

“In sand, it is also important to know the opponents and anticipate each play because it’s such a big court to cover. Bringing that skill to indoor is very valuable,” Dunning said.

While playing sand volleyball can bring a lot to the indoor court, indoor volleyball can also bring important skills to the sand.

“The indoor game is so fast that you have to have a high level of focus,” Dunning explained.

In indoor volleyball, the team would be able to watch film of their upcoming competitors and have an idea of what to expect, but that is not currently the case in sand. “It’s actually kind of an adventure because we don’t know very much,” Dunning said.

Because the sport is very new — it was just approved as the NCAA’s 90th championship in January of this year — it’s still hard to get the videos of the other teams before you play them. However, the further into the tournament they advance and the more exposure they get to the competing pairs, the more the Stanford pairs will learn about their competition.

As the team has improved, the players have started to take the practices and the program more seriously. Every time the team steps onto the sand courts, Dunning recognizes that each pair is excited to progress and see what they are going to get better at each day.

Although the two teams will probably become more divided in the future, Dunning still wants the indoor players to have the opportunity to practice with the sand team. It then depends on whether they are competitive enough to make one of the 10 competition spots.

The team’s next tournament is the Surf’n Turf Invitational, which begins April 3. The Cardinal are scheduled to play four teams over two days in Miami.

“Humidity, hard sun and wind aren’t something we experience much at Stanford, but we’ve been working as a team to prepare our game to adapt to the environment,” Birks said.

Stanford has started the season on a high note, but the team recognizes that No. 6 Florida International will be a tough competitor. The Panthers exploded onto the scene last week when they beat Pepperdine, which was previously ranked second in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll.

The Cardinal’s first game will be against Carson Newman on Friday at 5 a.m.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Baseball defeats USF after seventh-inning rally https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/01/baseball-defeats-usf-after-seventh-inning-rally/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/01/baseball-defeats-usf-after-seventh-inning-rally/#respond Wed, 01 Apr 2015 07:13:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098054 After a slow start for the Cardinal, which were held scoreless until the fifth inning, Stanford beat the University of San Francisco 5-3 on Tuesday night. Momentum shifted with the first out of the fifth inning, with a great snag by freshman infielder Mikey Diekroeger. The Cardinal then regained their rhythm offensively when Jack Klein hit […]

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After a slow start for the Cardinal, which were held scoreless until the fifth inning, Stanford beat the University of San Francisco 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Momentum shifted with the first out of the fifth inning, with a great snag by freshman infielder Mikey Diekroeger. The Cardinal then regained their rhythm offensively when Jack Klein hit a single that brought home Matt Winaker for Stanford’s first run of the night to tie the game 1-1.

Baseball defeats USF after seventh-inning rally
Junior outfielder Jonny Locher (right) was one of six Cardinal players with hits on Tuesday. (SAM GIRVIN/The Stanford Daily)

Things started sliding downhill again for Stanford in the seventh inning, however, when USF’s Ross Puskarich advanced to second on a wild pitch by Joey Starling. Aaron Ping then hit a double to left-center, scoring Puskarich. An RBI single by Michael Eaton then put the Dons back up by two.

The Card came back from this two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh after a combination of poor San Francisco defense and good hitting by Stanford.

Both Winaker and Alex Dunlap were walked and Klein laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Winaker and Dunlap. Jesse Kuet, who was pinch-hitting for catcher Bryce Carter, singled to score Winaker. Tommy Edman hit another single, advancing Dunlap, who then scored a run after a dropped fly ball by USF infielder Aaron Ping. Stanford added two more runs on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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