Sports Briefs

SIX CHAMPIONSHIPS  Stanford's record of athletic achievement keeps growing. Six teams won NCAA championships in 1997-98. Last year, the total was seven, including one non-NCAA title. No university ever has won more titles in an academic year. This year's winners: men's cross-country, women's volleyball, women's swimming, men's swimming (Tom Wilkens, pictured), synchronized swimming, and men's tennis. Women's cross-country came in second, and men's basketball and women's tennis both made the Final Four. Overall, Stanford has won 84 collegiate team titles - 75 of them NCAA championships - and more than 300 NCAA individual titles. Cardinal women's teams have won an NCAA-best 25 championships.

FOR THE FIRST TIME  Both of Stanford's rugby teams made it to the national championships for the first time in their long history as club sports. The women won the national championship, beating Illinois, 35-4. The men lost the title match to California. In only its third year as a varsity sport, the women's water polo team ranked No. 2 nationally and finished third best in the Collegiate National Championships. After beating No. 10 Michigan and No. 7 Massachusetts, Stanford lost to California. In the consolation match, Stanford beat Hawaii to earn third. Sophomores Ellen Estes and Suze Gardner earned first-team all-tournament honors. Goalie Heather Crary, a junior, earned honorable mention, and Coach John Tanner, a former Stanford water polo star, was named Coach of the Year. Softball needed five years after becoming a varsity sport to reach post-season play. Ranked 9th nationally, they made it to the regional championship game before falling to Oklahoma State, 4-0.

THE ULTIMATE BEST  Stanford's ultimate teams repeated their 1997 success. The women won the national championship again, and the men came in second. Andrea Johnson won the Callahan Award, given to the best player in the country, and Mike Payne was a finalist for the men's award. Last year, Stanford's Dominique Fontenette and Jim Schoettler won both MVP awards.

Sports Briefs (Plain text)

Previous | Next