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FOOTBALL

Love on the Gridiron

COY WIRE'S MOTHER, who is of Japanese descent, christened her son after the Japanese word for “love.” But players lined up on the opposite side of the football don’t feel any love when they collide with the 215-pound, 6-foot-1 senior linebacker. And with the graduation of NFL-bound Riall Johnson and Willie Howard, they can expect to see even more of him.

“If our team is going to be successful, we have to have an outstanding defense,” says Stanford football coach Tyrone Willingham. “That can come in the form of a dominant defense or it can come, like it did in 1999, as an opportunistic defense. Whatever form it takes, you have to have a leader. You’d like to have one of your safeties or linebackers assume that role of leadership,” he adds. “Coy has already done that.”

Wire’s route to linebacker wasn’t exactly direct. He joined the squad as a running back; he has the distinction of leading the team in both rushing and tackles. As a redshirt freshman in 1998, he rushed for a team-high 298 yards, despite missing the last five games of the season with a dislocated thumb. But the next year, Wire shared time on the field with two other strong running backs—Brian Allen and Kerry Carter.

“I felt that I had more that I wanted to offer the team,” Wire says. “At the end of the season, when Coach [Willingham] asked if I had any thoughts about the team, I told him that I wanted to help the team win more and that maybe I could do that by playing defense.”

During the off-season, Willingham moved Wire to safety. But less than two weeks before the start of last season, Willingham switched him to inside linebacker. That gave Wire a week and a half to memorize a two-inch-thick book of plays.

“I’ve played football since I was 6 years old, so the instincts were there,” Wire says. “It was a matter of learning all the responsibilities of being on defense. That was the roughest part, learning all that info in a very short amount of time.”

Wire proved to be a quick study. In his defensive debut against Washington State in last season’s opener, he helped the Cardinal shut down the Cougars’ wide-open passing attack. He tallied six tackles (two for a loss of yardage) and one quarterback sack in Stanford’s 24-10 victory.

And Wire added much-needed speed to Stanford’s oft-maligned defense. Last year, the defense allowed 93 fewer yards per game than in 1999. Wire’s team-leading 81 tackles earned him an honorable mention on the All-Pac-10 team, as he finished among the league’s top 10 in tackles, sacks and tackles behind the line of scrimmage. “He just grew and his personality and leadership developed, and it just made all the right sense in the world to have him at linebacker,” says Willingham.

Wire thinks the team can improve upon last season’s 5-6 record. Although the Cardinal will miss outside linebacker Johnson and defensive end Howard, much of the defensive unit remains intact. Allen, ’02, and Carter, ’03, continue to anchor the backfield, and the offense, which returns all but two starters, hopes experience will compensate for the lack of a big playmaker. The team kicks off the season September 8 against Boston College.

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ATHLETICS

Women's Real Achilles' Heel

AS HE WATCHED male and female graduate students in his lab run, stop and then cut to the side, biomechanical engineering professor Tom Andriacchi saw distinct differences in how their knees responded. Reviewing films of women’s basketball games confirmed what he suspected: almost all the women landed with their body mass slightly off-center, which can cause their knees “to buckle, like a column.”

Andriacchi’s observations help explain a phenomenon noticed by many coaches, trainers and team doctors: as women’s participation in athletics has increased and intensified, they’ve become more likely than their male counterparts to suffer disabling injuries to the knee’s anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. Seventy percent of women’s ACL tears result from noncontact play.

“There’s no question that more women are playing sports at a higher level and playing year-round,” says Elaine Lambert, team physician for several women’s varsity sports at Stanford. Women are stronger than they used to be, she adds, and “as their muscles get bigger, they’re putting ligaments and tendons at more force.”

ACL injuries can decimate a squad, as they did the women’s basketball team in 1998. In the last game of the regular season, starting forward Vanessa Nygaard, ’97, suffered the second ACL tear of her college career. Four days later, leading scorer and rebounder Kristin Folkl, ’98, came down hard from a practice shot and tore her knee. In the first round of the NCAA tournament, the team lost to Harvard, 71-67—the only time ever in college basketball a No. 1 seed has lost to a No. 16. The injury also is excruciating. Women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer claims to know an ACL tear when she hears the invariably accompanying scream.

There are several theories about what causes ACL tears and how to prevent them. “I think it’s a matter of overuse,” says women’s soccer coach Andy Nelson, who used to play 40 games a year in his native England. He compares that with the 100 tournaments many high school students play each year in the United States, hoping to catch the eye of college recruiters, and deems the American practice “ridiculous.”

Many experts say that an imbalance between women’s quadriceps and hamstrings puts excessive strain on the ACL, and a narrow notch in the female knee can “act like a guillotine to cut through the ACL,” as Nelson puts it. Some specialists think hormonal changes also may adversely affect tissue.

Andriacchi’s work may help remedy the problem. He hopes to head to the Stanford soccer fields this fall, to verify his lab observations and see how varsity knees perform. “What we find could lead to new training methods,” he says.

OUTLOOK

The Cardinal Report

ONE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. Five runners-up. Twenty top-10 finishes. It all adds up to a seventh consecutive Sears Cup, awarded to Stanford in June. Can Cardinal athletes make it eight in a row? The 2001-02 preseason report for the 33 varsity teams:

Baseball
Last Season: 51-17; 2nd in Pac-10; 2nd nationally.
This Year: The team lost no one to graduation and only a handful to the pro draft. Having reached the final game of the College World Series two years in a row, the Cardinal will try for a triple play.

Men’s Basketball
Last Season: 31-3; Pac-10 champs; advanced to Elite Eight of NCAA tournament. This Year: Stanford must rebound from the loss of four starters: big men Jarron and Jason Collins, sharpshooting forward Ryan Mendez and point guard Michael McDonald. Junior All-American Casey Jacobsen and top recruit Josh Childress, both swingmen, should help. Juniors Julius Barnes and Curtis Borchardt and sophomores Teyo Johnson and Justin Davis are also expected to step up.

Women’s Basketball
Last Season: 19-11; Pac-10 co-champs; lost in 2nd round of NCAA tournament. This Year: Behind Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Nicole Powell, ’04, look for the Cardinal to bounce back from its early exit.

Men’s Crew
Last Season: 12th nationally in men’s eight. This Year: Hoping to stroke its way into a top-10 finish at the IRA Championships behind senior Nate Schuett and junior Chris Jones.

Women’s Crew
Last Season: 4th in Pac-10; ranked 19th nationally. This Year: Seven strong recruits join a team that posted its first top-20 finish in school history. Iron oars: junior Sabrina Kolker and senior Claire Phillips.

Men’s Cross Country
Last Season: Pac-10 champs; 4th nationally. This Year: Pursuing another conference title behind Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year Donald Sage, ’04.

Women’s Cross Country
Last Season: Pac-10 champs; 3rd nationally. This Year: On pace for a run at the national title after five conference championships. Going the distance: junior Erin Sullivan.

Men’s Fencing
Last Season: 4th nationally. This Year: A national title is within reach. Swashbucklers to watch: Felix Reichling, ’01, foil, and Graham Allen, ’02, épée.

Women’s Fencing
Last Season: 4th nationally. This Year: Olympian Iris Zimmermann, ’03, and the Cardinal take a stab at the national championship.

Field Hockey
Last Season: 13-11; NorPac champs; 9th nationally. This Year: Last season’s trip to the NCAAs was the team’s first since 1995. Can they return without NorPac Player of the Year Michelle Scott?

Football
See story.

Men’s Golf
Last Season: 6th in Pac-10; 20th nationally. This Year: Looking for a top-10 finish. Long drivers: juniors Philip Rowe and Jim Seki.

Women’s Golf
Last Season: 2nd in Pac-10; 9th nationally. This Year: The team takes the course with a credible shot at conference and national titles. Key players: sophomores Angela Rho and Kim Kouwabunpat.

Men’s Gymnastics
Last Season: 4th in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation; 10th nationally. This Year: All-Americans Marshall Erwin, ’03, and Dan Gill, ’04, should guide Stanford back to the NCAAs.

Women’s Gymnastics
Last Season: Pac-10 champs; 9th nationally. This Year: Expectations are high, since the team returns four All-Americans and welcomes two talented freshmen. The newest member: Kristen Smyth, hired as head coach in June.

Lacrosse
Last Season: 14-5; Western Women’s Lacrosse League champs. This Year: Coach Michele Ulfelder, who represented the United States in the Lacrosse World Cup this summer, could lead her squad to its fifth consecutive league championship and first NCAA bid.

Coed Sailing
Last Season: 3rd in Pacific Coast District Championships. This Year: Looking to recover the top ranking in the Pacific Coast. Smooth sailors: juniors Kara Sweeney and Dave Kenny.

Women’s Sailing
Last Season: 2nd in Pacific Coast; 11th nationally. This Year: New coach Jay Kehoe hopes the winds are right for a return trip to nationals. Star skippers: sophomores Jen Porter and Ashley Frush.

Men’s Soccer
Last Season: 18-3-1; 5th nationally. This Year: The team’s goal is nothing short of a national championship. A keeper’s best friend: senior All-American Lee Morrison, who leads the premier defense in collegiate soccer.

Women’s Soccer
Last Season: 14-6-1; ranked 20th nationally. This Year: A young but talented squad shoots for a conference title and NCAA tournament appearance. Star strikers: junior Marcia Wallis and senior Amy Sauer.

Softball
Last Season: 54-16-1; 3rd in Pac-10; 3rd nationally. This Year: Three All-Americans, including national team member Jessica Mendoza, ’02, return to a team that posted the best finish in Stanford softball history.

Men’s Swimming
Last Season: 8-0; Pac-10 champs; 2nd nationally. This Year: Should be strong despite the loss of last year’s senior class, which included world record holder Anthony Robinson. Standout swimmer: junior Randall Bal.

Women’s Swimming
Last Season: 6-1; 4th in Pac-10; 2nd nationally. This Year: Touched out in last year’s NCAA Championships, the Cardinal will try to turn the tide. Top recruits: Evins Cameron and Amy Wagner.

Synchronized Swimming
Last Season: 2nd nationally. This Year: With the return of U.S. national team members Lindsey Wigginton, ’02, and Erin Dobratz, ’04, expect another great showdown with Ohio State at the NCAAs.

Men’s Tennis
Last Season: 24-2; Pac-10 champs; 5th nationally. This Year: Must defend its conference title without Pac-10 Player of the Year Alex Kim. Ace: senior All-American K.J. Hippensteel.

Women’s Tennis
Last Season: 29-0; Pac-10 champs; national champs. This Year: Returning nearly every member from last year’s title team, including No. 1 doubles pair Lauren Kalvaria, ’02, and Lauren Barnikow, ’04.

Men’s Track
Last Season: Pac-10 champs; 5th indoors, 4th outdoors nationally. This Year: Olympian Gabe Jennings and 5,000-meter national champion Jonathon Riley, both fifth-year seniors, headline one of the best teams in the country.

Women’s Track
Last Season: 3rd in Pac-10; 31st indoors, 13th outdoors nationally. This Year: NCAA 5,000-meter champion Lauren Fleshman, ’03, will help the Cardinal chase a conference title.

Men’s Volleyball
Last Season: 14-9; tied for 3rd in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division; ranked 5th nationally. This Year: Don Shaw scored four national titles with the women’s team. Now, he turns his attention to the men. Players to watch: Marcus Skacel, ’02, and Curt Toppel, ’03.

Women’s Volleyball
Last Season: 19-12; 4th in Pac-10; 17th nationally. This Year: Four of six starters return to a squad that faces one of the toughest schedules in the country. Star spiker: Olympian and two-time All-American Logan Tom, ’03.

Men’s Water Polo
Last Season: 14-13; 6th in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation; ranked 7th nationally. This Year: Olympian Tony Azevedo, ’04, and goalie Nick Ellis, ’02, hope to make coach Dante Dettamanti’s final season a memorable one.

Women’s Water Polo
Last Season: 27-1; 1st in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation; 2nd nationally. This Year: Division I Player of the Year Brenda Villa led the team to the first undefeated regular season in women’s water polo history—and she was a redshirt freshman. Look for the Cardinal to avenge last year’s only blemish, a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to ucla in the title game.

Wrestling
Last Season: 4-9; 9th in Pac-10. This Year: All of last year’s competitors return to the mats with experience and a rebuilding season under their belts. Senior Brad Selby contends for the conference title in the 285-pound division.