Stanford Today Edition: September/October, 1996 Section: Sports News WWW: Sports News
Cardinal Takes Sears Cup
Stanford has won the most
prestigious collegiate athletics award, the Sears Directors' Cup, for the second
straight year. The award, honoring the best collegiate athletics program, is
sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and Sears,
Roebuck and Co. Stanford has won the cup for two of the three years it has been
awarded and came in second the other year. The cup goes to the institution that
demonstrates a successful record across a broad-based athletics program. Stanford offers 33 varsity sports, including 18 for women;
no other Pacific-10 Conference school offers more. This year, 13 Cardinal teams
finished their season in the top five nationally, 23 in the top 10, and two teams
each won NCAA championships - women's swimming and men's tennis. Cardinal teams
came in second in women's tennis, third in men's gymnastics, and tied for third in
both women's volleyball and basketball. Other high-ranking teams included men's golf
(fourth), women's golf and men's cross-country (fifth), fencing (seventh), and
baseball (ninth). "Our goal in Stanford
athletics is to establish and maintain the pre-eminent athletic program in the
country," said Athletic Director Ted Leland. "Most of all, the intrinsic value to the
participant is the primary criterion by which the worth of the program should be
judged." The winner of the Sears Directors' Cup receives a $35,000 Waterford crystal
trophy, five $5,000 post-graduate scholarships and $1,000 post-graduate scholarships
for each championship won. The trophy will be displayed on campus in the Arrillaga
Family Sports Center's Hall of Fame.
Athletes Honored
The Athletic Board's annual awards
honored 30 athletes for their achievements on the field, academically, and in
leadership and public service. Co-winners of the top honor, the Al Masters Award for
attaining the highest standards of athletic performance, leadership and academic
achievement, were Cary Wendell, women's volleyball, and Tiger Woods, golf. Wendell, two-time National Player of the Year, was 1995
Pac-10 Player of the Year, and one of only three players in conference history to be
a four-time all-Pac-10 selection. She also was Pac-10 All-Academic twice. Woods,
two-time U.S. Amateur Champion, won the NCAA championship this year, was Pac-10
Player of the Year and First Team All-American. The Donald Kennedy Award for
community service, academics and athletics was given to David Walker (football) and
Amy Chiminello (tennis). Pac-10 Athletes of the Year were Jessica Tong (swimming),
Kate Starbird (basketball) and A.J. Hinch (baseball). Other athletes honored were Jeff Salzenstein (tennis),
Jessica Fischer (soccer), Elise Morgan (field hockey), David Harbour (basketball),
Tod Surmon (wrestling), Maureen McLaren (swimming/volleyball), Dena Dey (soccer/track
& field), Julie Bowen (golf), Jeff Buckey (football), Clark Bailey (fencing),
Cameron Stephenson (lacrosse), Brevin Knight (basketball), Ian Bachrach (gymnastics),
Mhairi McKay (golf), Claudia Franco (swimming), Anthony Bookman (football), Kyle
Peterson (baseball), Lisa Sharpley (volleyball), Ania Bleszynski (tennis), Ryan
Wolters (tennis), Chad Hutchinson (baseball), Mary Cobb (cross-
country/track & field) and Amy Murakami (gymnastics).
Cyclists Wheel to Another Title
The cycling team, a
co-ed Club Sport, has won the national championship for the second year in a row in
the sport's major segment - road racing. Counting results from the other two
categories - track and mountain biking - Stanford has been No. 1 in the
nation since 1994. It also has won the Western Collegiate Cycling Conference
championship for the past two years. Leading the Cardinal team in the national
championship 93-mile road race was Tracy Timms, who just graduated and is headed to
Harvard Medical School this fall. As an individual and team member, she has won
national road-racing championships every year since 1992. Other key team members
were Andrew Lewis, a senior, and Dave Bailey, graduate student in physics. The team's
coach is Art Walker, a 1990 Ph.D. in physics. ST