This Week in Sports activities: Three groups win convention titles, seven gamers headed to NFL
Welcome to This Week in Sports activities. We’re The Day by day’s sports activities editors, Madeline Grabb and Ells Boone, and we’ll be strolling you thru the foremost video games, occasions and tales from the previous week, in addition to offering a quick preview of what’s arising this week.
No. 8 girls’s tennis capped off a season of undefeated convention matchplay by besting No. 28 USC 4-0 to win the Pac-12 Championships for a fifth time. Sophomore Valencia Xu closed it out for the Cardinal with a cushty 6-4, 6-2 win over the Trojans’ Grace Piper on court docket 5. Stanford additionally elevated its win streak to 18, a report it is going to look to increase additional within the upcoming NCAA Event, with the draw to be introduced on Monday.
No. 2 girls’s water polo swam away with its second consecutive MPSF title on Sunday. The Cardinal defeated No. 21 San Jose State and No. 3 UCLA on their technique to the ultimate, earlier than defeating No. 1 USC to assert the championship. Redshirt senior 2-meter Aria Fischer led the way in which in opposition to the Trojans, contributing 4 objectives and three assists. Starting Might 12, the squad will look to defend their NCAA title from 2022 on this yr’s match.
Pac-12 Championship motion was rife on the Farm, as junior Michael Thorbjornsen had a strong outing on the Stanford Golf Course to clinch the person Pac-12 title and led males’s golf to its twelfth convention championship in program historical past. Thorbjornsen is the primary particular person convention champion for the Cardinal since 2015. In the meantime, the group completed 19-under, whereas Thorbjornsen’s 15-under edged out Colorado’s Dylan McDermott by simply two strokes. The subsequent occasion for Stanford would be the NCAA Regionals, with the Cardinal slated to tee off on Might 15.
No. 8 seashore volleyball hosted and completed third at its personal Pac-12 Championships on Saturday. This equaled the group’s earlier finest end result on the convention match from 2021. In a primary for this system, the Cardinal defeated No. 1 UCLA in a good 3-2 twin match. Whereas Stanford ultimately misplaced in each the winners’ and contenders’ bracket finals, with the latter serving up a rematch in opposition to the Bruins, the group acquired an at-large bid into the NCAA Event. The Cardinal’s first match is in opposition to seven-seed Grand Canyon on Friday.
Seven members of Stanford soccer are headed to the NFL after this weekend’s draft in Kansas Metropolis, Mo. Fifth-year large receiver Michael Wilson was the primary among the many Cardinal to listen to his identify known as when he was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals within the third spherical. Senior cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly was taken by the Baltimore Ravens two rounds later. The sixth spherical noticed junior quarterback Tanner McKee and senior large receiver Elijah Higgins drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins, respectively, adopted by fifth yr security Kendall Williamson being drafted by the Chicago Bears within the seventh. Fifth-year cornerback Ethan Bonner signed as a free agent and can be part of Higgins in Miami, whereas fifth-year large receiver Brycen Tremayne did the identical with the Washington Commanders after the draft concluded.
Crusing hosted the primary of 4 championship occasions to be held this spring, the ICSA Girls’s Crew Race Championship. Although Stanford alternatively led and was tied with Yale all through, the Cardinal finally completed runners-up to the Bulldogs. The ladies will proceed their championship pursuit beginning Might 23 on the ICSA Girls’s Fleet Race Nationals.
No. 8 baseball began off a packed week with a 6-5 victory over rival Cal at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday. The Cardinal then hosted a three-game residence collection in opposition to Pac-12 opponent UCLA. Whereas Stanford opened the triumvirate with one other slender 6-5 win on Friday, the Bruins prevailed 9-6 within the subsequent sport. The Cardinal exacted their revenge on Sunday, nonetheless, with a grand slam off that bat of junior catcher Alberto Rios to finest UCLA 10-7.
Redwood Shores hosted Senior Day for No. 4 girls’s rowing, which went seven for eight at Saturday’s Pac-12 Problem. The Cardinal gained three of its 4 races in opposition to Iowa within the morning earlier than dominating No. 12 SMU in one other 4 races that afternoon. Subsequent up for Stanford are the Pac-12 Championships, the place the Cardinal will look to defend their 2022 title on Might 14.
No. 4 girls’s light-weight rowing gained the varsity 4 and varsity eight races on the WIRA Championships on Sunday in Folsom, Calif. The Cardinal additionally completed second within the varsity two occasion. Stanford now heads east for subsequent weekend’s twin face-off in opposition to Boston College.
Lacrosse secured the two-seed within the upcoming Pac-12 Event by handily defeating Cal on Friday to shut out common season play. The Bears did not comprise redshirt sophomore attacker Ashley Humphrey, who scored seven objectives for Stanford alongside the way in which to a cushty 18-8 win. The Cardinal will subsequent cross the bay for his or her convention match, starting on Might 3 in Berkeley.
No. 23 males’s tennis opened postseason play in Ojai, Calif. with a 4-2 win over rival Cal on Thursday within the opening spherical of the Pac-12 Championships. Stanford then fell 2-4 to No. 10 USC. Although the Cardinal took the doubles level, the Trojans gained the higher hand and twin match victory in singles. Stanford’s postseason prospects now come all the way down to Monday’s NCAA Event choice present.
Saturday noticed the ultimate races of the common season for No. 9 males’s rowing, as No. 1 Cal handed the varsity eight its first lack of 2023 by 4.3 seconds. The second varsity eight had even tougher time, with the Bears outpacing them to the end by over 20 seconds. The Cardinal will now be part of the ladies’s group in getting ready for the Pac-12 Championships scheduled to be held in two weeks on Oregon’s Dexter Lake.
Observe and Discipline made a triumphant return to the Penn Relays, the group’s first look on the occasion since 2017, as graduate scholar Melissa Tanaka, sophomore Maya Valmon and freshmen Roisin Willis and Juliette Whittaker set a brand new college out of doors report within the distance medley relay on their technique to victory in 10:50.56. And although Stanford misplaced the Huge Meet to Cal on Saturday, Valmon continued to carve her place within the historical past books with a brand new college and monitor report within the 400 meters. The Cardinal has a fortnight to arrange for the Pac-12 Championships starting Might 12.
No. 8 softball hit the street, besting Fresno State 7-3 on Wednesday earlier than touring to the desert for a three-game weekend collection of its personal in opposition to Arizona State. Stanford blazed by means of the Solar Devils in every of the three matchups, together with a dominant 8-1 win on Saturday, which boasted residence runs from junior Aly Kaneshiro and sophomore Kylie Chung. The Cardinal will return residence for 2 non-conference video games in opposition to Sacramento State on Might 3.
