It’s often hard to tell when a comeback trail will finish, but Serena Williams is certainly well on her way.

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For many student-athletes heading off to school, moving across the country is a necessary process. But for incoming defensive lineman Kevin Anderson, that’s not the case — Anderson is an alumnus of nearby Palo Alto High School and the only Bay Area recruit in Stanford’s 2015 football class.

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School may be out for the Cardinal faithful, but the team’s usual home of Stanford Stadium was buzzing with activity last Saturday. It wasn’t for a football game, the venue’s main event, and there were no national teams or popular European squads in sight. Instead, fans in the Stanford area came out in droves to see the San Jose Earthquakes (5-5-6) play the New York Red Bulls (5-3-10) in a nationally televised Major League Soccer contest over Independence Day weekend. San Jose squandered a late lead and settled for a 2-2 tie.

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Last weekend’s USA Track and Field Championships at the historic Hayward Field featured current and past Stanford athletes. The national competition in Eugene, Ore., had implications for qualifying for the World Championships later this summer.

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Four Cardinal athletes received the Pac-10 2011 Spring Scholar-Athlete Award, the conference announced Monday. For an individual to be eligible for the award, he or she must be a senior, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher and participate in at least half of the scheduled athletic competitions.

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Stanford’s No. 1 women’s water polo team went into Sunday with thirty straight victories against Cal, going undefeated against the cross-bay rival since 2000. The Cardinal (28-1) continued that streak when it mattered most yesterday, earning an emphatic 9-5 win over the No. 2 Bears (24-4) in the National Collegiate Championship final.

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