The Ultimate Honor
Bloodthirsty, the demurely named men’s ultimate frisbee team captained by Mike “Whit” Whitaker, ’01, MS ’02, threw accurately and caught everything in reach to win the Ultimate Players Association College Championships May 26 in Spokane, Wash. Seeded first among the nation’s 275 college teams, Bloodthirsty defeated third-seeded Wisconsin 15-5 in the finals to bring home the first men’s national championship for Stanford since 1984. In the women’s finals, third-seeded Superfly, captained by Erin “Peedoo” Percival, ’02, earned Stanford’s second straight national runner-up finish for the women, falling to UC-San Diego’s Psychos 7-15 in the finals.
For Women’s Gymnastics, a Super-Six Finish
The women’s gymnastics squad placed sixth, with a score of 196.025, at the NCAAs, held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., April 18-20. It was the first “Super Six” finish in team history. Three sophomores represented the Cardinal in the individual event finals: Lise Léveillé finished sixth on balance beam at 9.838, Kendall Beck took eighth place on vault with a score of 9.7630, and Lindsay Wing earned 12th place on beam at 9.750. Beck was named to the first All-America team and Léveillé to the second.
What a Crew
The women’s lightweight crew team finished its first season undefeated in dual meets and, on May 18, won the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif., crossing the finish line 20 seconds ahead of UC-Santa Barbara. The team then placed sixth at the IRA Championships held May 29-31 in Cherry Hill, N.J. “Considering that eight of the nine athletes had no prior rowing experience, I think they went further than anyone could have imagined,” head coach Al Acosta said after the IRA regatta. The women’s open-weight team, meanwhile, received its first-ever bid to the NCAA championships, held May 31 through June 2 in Indianapolis, Ind. The Cardinal finished 10th.
Feeling the Draft
NFL teams selected six Stanford seniors in the first seven rounds of the draft. On the first day, the Tennessee Titans took free safety Tank Williams with the 45th pick overall, and the Buffalo Bills chose linebacker Coy Wire in the third round. Later rounds sent quarterback Randy Fasani to the Carolina Panthers, running back Brian Allen to the Indianapolis Colts, offensive guard Eric Heitmann to the San Francisco 49ers and center Zack Quaccia to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The NFL has drafted six Stanford players on six previous occasions—and selected seven in 1936—but never in so few rounds.
