FIELD HOCKEY

Fit and Fast on a Billiard-Table Field

STICK TO IT: Forward Amanda Billmyer was voted 'most competitive.'

David Gonzales

FIELD HOCKEY, the longest-running women's varsity sport at Stanford, traces back to the 12th century. Originating in the British Isles, hockey took its name from the French hoquet, for shepherd's crook, and medieval craftsmen liked to boast about favorite players in the stained-glass billboards of their day.

In more recent times, the British army carried field hockey throughout its far-flung Commonwealth, including India and Pakistan, where all regulation hardwood sticks still are fashioned by hand. When they come slashing down on the Varsity Hockey Turf Field at Stanford, spray from the carefully watered synthetic surface dissipates in gossamer arcs--a balletic slow-motion background for players tearing past in maroon-and-white blurs.

As they drive and dribble, the players call to one another with peculiar names--"Chi," short for bansunkichi pear, or "Finn," for Finnish potato.

Since the mid-'70s at Stanford, freshmen have been given prized nicknames by upperclass teammates, who scour grocery bins in search of just the right fruit, vegetable or spice monikers. Golf pro Sara Sanders, '94, a former Cardinal field hockey star, was dubbed "Ice" (iceberg lettuce) by teammates who thought her moves were way cool.

And this season, there were plenty of new names to consider. The freshman-laden team has only one senior on the active roster--co-captain Michelle Scott, who played in all 18 games last season and made the Northern Pacific All-Tournament Team. After four years as champions of the NorPac conference, Stanford came in second to Cal last season--a finish this year's highly competitive squad does not want to repeat. The Cardinal women play on the premier field in their conference--a billiard-table-smooth greenery donated three years ago by Kathy Levinson, '77, and her partner, Jennifer Levinson. With no discernible grain to bump against, balls hug the carpet and players can hone a wicked passing game. What's more, change-of-direction injuries have been virtually eliminated.

Coach Sheryl Johnson, MA '81, scouts for speed in high school recruits and describes the team's style as "fit and fast." There's no slacking on her field, and players aren't allowed to wear hats or visors that might slice hair-widths off their per-ipheral vision. If freshmen want to know why Johnson herself gets to wear a cap at practices, upperclass players have a ready reply: "She's earned the right. She's an Olympian."

Johnson represented the United States on the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams and won a bronze at the '84 Summer Games in Los Angeles. At Stanford, she has led the Cardinal to eight conference titles and been named--eight times--NorPac Coach of the Year.

"Hard pass, ladies--harder," she is apt to yell when the little white balls slow to a mere streak on the unseasonably green field. Come playoff time, they'll be off the radar.

BASKETBALL

New Kid on the Block

JUSTIN TIME: Davis knows the ball is in his court.

Rod Searcy

FOR A REDSHIRT FRESHMAN with no collegiate experience, Justin Davis knows he has a tall order awaiting him as he prepares to enter his first season on the Stanford basketball team. His mission: replace the rebounding punch and bruising post defense of Mark Madsen, '00, perhaps the most beloved Cardinal player of all time, who this year will suit up for the L.A. Lakers.

"Mark has such high expectations of me . . . higher than anyone I've ever met," says Davis. "He probably knows me better than any other player because we played together so much."

Davis is referring to the countless hours he spent last season battling Madsen in practices. A friendship developed amid the flying elbows and hip checks, but not without a competitive edge. "Mark would come every day ready to play," says Davis. "Even on days when I had something else on my mind, worrying about a paper or something, it still made me play hard because I didn't want to get outplayed by Mark."

Davis played high school ball at St. Joseph's in Alameda, Calif., transferring there from Berkeley High at his mother's insistence after two of his close friends were murdered. "It wasn't about basketball . . . my first week there, all I could think about was how I wanted to go back to Berkeley High," says Davis. "It wasn't my decision--my parents felt it was the best thing for me."

He acclimated to the new setting quickly and led St. Joe's to the state finals in his junior year, establishing himself as a national Division 1 prospect. His familiarity with the Berkeley campus and coaching staff lead to speculation that he would follow the path of fellow St. Joseph's alumnus and current nba star Jason Kidd and become a Golden Bear.

But life has always been about more than basketball for this personable and mature 19-year-old, who was drawn to the educational offerings at Stanford and the potential for success outside of the sports world. "Sometimes you have to forget your friends, your family . . . and just do what's best for you," says Davis, whose mother attended Cal.

The early returns for Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery are encouraging. Davis held his own against Madsen during those practices last season, and the buzz around the Cardinal program is that Monty may just have the team's next great player ready to step in this year.

--Tim Kane, '03

Sports Notebook

Wayne in Line for Top Honor
Justin Wayne, an All-American pitcher at Stanford last year who now plays for the Montreal Expos, is a finalist for the 2000 Golden Spikes Award, which honors the top amateur baseball player in the United States. Wayne, '01, is the first Stanford finalist since Oakland A's catcher A.J. Hinch, '97, in 1996. No Cardinal player has yet won the award, which was scheduled to be presented on November 3 by USA Baseball, in coordination with the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Golfers Highly Regarded
Cardinal women's golf ranked second in the nation this fall in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. At the same time, Golf World ranked the Cardinal women third, after Duke and defending NCAA champion Arizona.

Going, Going, Gone
Last year, the athletics department ventured into cyber-auctions to help raise money for its programs. The highest bid was $750 from four fans who wanted to watch a football game from a sofa on the 50-yard line. This season's auction packages were available for football and for men's and women's basketball. They included opportunities to watch a football practice, act as stadium announcer for a game, enjoy a catered dinner in the press box and serve as honorary captain at Big Game.

Media Likes Cardinal's Chances
The women's basketball team, which began the season with eight letter-winners and four starters, in October was chosen by Pac-10 women's basketball coaches as the team to beat in 2000-01. The Cardinal had a 21-9 overall record last year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, finishing second in a tight race. It was the first time Stanford was tabbed by coaches as the preseason favorite since the poll was launched in 1998-98. The Cardinal was last picked to win the Pac-10 race by the media in 1997-98.

Time for a Tournament?
Athletic directors of the Pac-10 have recommended that the conference conduct postseason tournaments in men's and women's basketball, beginning with the 2001-02 season. The Pac-10 is the only Division I conference besides the Ivy League that does not have a postseason basketball tournament. The proposal is awaiting ratification by eight of the 10 university presidents. Stanford athletic director Ted Leland, PhD '83, has opposed the postseason tournament, arguing that student-athletes would have to spend too much time on the road.

VOLLEYBALL

Cheering for Their Student-Athletes

FACULTY FANS: Team captain Lindsay Kagawa signed up adviser Luis Fraga and his wife, Charlene Aguilar.

David Gonzales

HE KNEW she was captain of the women's volleyball team. And now political science associate professor Luis Fraga knows what that means for Lindsay Kagawa.

"He got to see a little bit about the inner workings of the team, and now maybe he understands why I've sometimes had to miss a class--because we start to get ready for a 7 o'clock home game at about 3," Kagawa, '01, says about her adviser. "Mostly, I was really excited that Professor Fraga was the first one to come."

Fraga was, indeed, the first faculty member to accept an invitation from assistant coach Kim Oden to join the women's volleyball team for an afternoon this season.

A public policy major, Oden, '86, was a two-time Olympian who captained the women's team that won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Games. At Stanford, she was twice named ncaa Volleyball Player of the Year by Volleyball Monthly. Oden won Academic All-America honors in 1984 for her scholarship and in 1990 was named Player of the Decade by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She still holds the Cardinal single-match record for most blocks (16).

Last spring, Oden and interim head coach Denise Corlett began bouncing around ideas for ways to connect their varsity athletes with the wider campus.

"I can look back and remember professors I had--Philip Zimbardo, Donald Kennedy and Roger Noll," Oden says. "Denise and I hear students raving about their own professors all the time, and we thought it would be neat for our players to be able to spend some time with faculty--and also neat for professors to get a firsthand view of the other responsibilities their students have."

Oden e-mailed team members to ask which faculty members they'd like to invite to practices, and the names she got in response made up an interdisciplinary roster: Donald Barr, ms '90, PhD '93, lecturer in human biology; Robert Negrin, associate professor of medicine; Roger Noll, professor of economics; Rob Reich, MA'98, PhD '98, assistant professor of political science; Bob Simoni, professor of biological sciences; Stephen Stedman, '79, ma '85, PhD '88, senior research scholar at the Institute for International Studies; Giovanni Tempesta, lecturer in French and Italian; and Philip Zimbardo, professor of psychology.Fraga and his wife, Charlene Aguilar, RSVP'd for the September 22 opener against the University of Southern California, which the Trojans won 3-0. The couple dined with the team on chicken and pasta in the Arrillaga Sports Café and sat in on the pregame practice.

The pace of drills is frenetic when the Cardinal women touch down on the courts. There are 50 or 60 glacier-white balls in the air at any one moment--ricocheting off outstretched palms, rising in graceful arcs from backline serves, drilling onto the floor.

Shouts of "Mine!" rebound around the gym as defensive players dive under the nets, digging for spiked balls, and come up in rolling somersaults. And as setters and outside hitters keep the balls flying overhead, they also make time for high fives to one another and are quick to reward a deft kill.

"What I had not expected was to be as overwhelmed with the commitment that the coaches and athletes show for one another," Fraga says about the action he and Aguilar saw. "The concentration and energy are awesome, but it's a team where commitment is paramount."

Fraga has sat on the sidelines with the football team, and he regularly participates in the annual breakfast for football recruits and their parents that biologist Bob Simoni organizes at the Faculty Club. Fraga estimates that his department graduates 15 student-athletes in every class of 100 political science majors, and he ticks off the sports with pride--women's softball, synchronized swimming, football, baseball, men's and women's basketball.

While he occasionally has asked coaches to supervise test-taking when athletes are on road trips, Fraga says most students prefer to complete the work before they leave town, so they can concentrate on playing.

"I wasn't surprised to learn that Lindsay was team captain," he says about Kagawa, whom he met when she took his urban politics course as a freshman. "She's always had a lot of leadership potential, and I knew she also had a very serious commitment to the team being successful."

After the practice, Fraga and Aguilar listened to strategies at the locker-room chalk talk and then sat next to the team on the floor at Maples Pavilion for the entire match.

"The most surprising part was realizing, after being there a few minutes, how much the floor moves," Fraga says about the parquet in Maples. "I guess that's a virtue."

The four-time NCAA champion Cardinal finished last season 31-3 and this year will play nine matches against opponents in the top-ranked 15 teams. Perhaps because the opening of the season coincided with televised coverage of Olympic performances by Cardinal Kerri Walsh, '00, and returning sophomore Logan Tom, players were visibly jazzed about the matches to come.

"We're really working hard to be national champions, and we sometimes miss out on the student part of being student-athletes," says Kagawa, the starting setter. "So having some of our professors on the bench with us really contributes to our overall academic experience."