For Swimmers, Slow Start Means Second Place
Despite a national record in the 100-meter butterfly by senior swimmer Dod Wales, Stanford's men couldn't fight back from a slow start at the NCAA championships in late March and finished second to Auburn. Wales broke the mark set in 1992 by Olympian Pablo Morales, '87, and accepted his award from his father, Ross, who won the same event in 1967. Senior Tate Blahnik won his second consecutive NCAA title in the 200-meter backstroke. But Auburn, which qualified 17 swimmers to Stanford's 13, opened up a 58.5-point lead on the first day and never slipped. Stanford, the defending national champ, had not lost since November 1997.
Flawless on the Softball Diamond
Ho-hum, another perfect game. So far this season, softball star Marcy Crouch has pitched three of them, lifting the Cardinal to a 26-7 record midway through the season. A right-handed senior, Crouch pitched the first two perfect games in consecutive five-inning wins against South Carolina and Auburn in late February and early March. In those two games, Crouch retired all 30 batters she faced (the games were called after five innings because Stanford was ahead by more than 8 runs). The third no-hitter came three weeks later in a nine-inning, 1-0 win over Portland State.
Women Left with Georgia on Their Minds
Stanford's women swimmers scored 19 points more at this year's NCAA championship than they scored in winning last year's meet. But that wasn't enough to hold off the University of Georgia at the March 18-20 competition. Buoyed by a hometown crowd, top-ranked Georgia deprived coach Richard Quick of a 12th title. He has won 11 of the last 14 NCAA championships. Sophomore Misty Hyman led Stanford with wins in the 100-meter butterfly and three relays, and two second-place finishes. The Cardinal has finished in the top three at every one of the 18 annual NCAA championship meets held to date.
And the Judges Say: 10, 10, 10
Call it the day the records shattered. Stanford's women gymnasts nailed three perfect 10's—the first 10's in school history—and broke five Stanford records in a March 12 win over the University of Massachusetts. Seniors Amy Murakami and Tracey Kohl both had perfect scores in the floor exercise. Murakami also earned a 10 on the uneven parallel bars. Those three individual achievements were, of course, Stanford records; in addition, the Cardinal broke team records on the bars and floor and for overall points scored in a meet. Just to show it wasn't a fluke, the women scored three more perfect 10's in their March 26 defeat of Cal.
