Sports Shorts
PREP ALUMS . . . Swarthmore College senior Allie Coleman from Palo Alto has been named Centennial Conference women’s volleyball Player of the Week for the week ending October 14, as announced by the conference office Monday afternoon. Coleman, a Palo Alto High grad and team co-captain, handed out 34 assists in the Garnet’s 3-1 victory against McDaniel, becoming the second player in school history and the 20th CC player to register 3,000 assists in a career. She averaged 6.8 assists per set in a 2-0 week.
ON THE AIR Friday Women’s volleyball: Stanford at Washington, 6 p.m.; Pac-12 Networks
Saturday
Sunday Women’s volleyball: Stanford at Washington St., 11 a.m.; Pac-12 Networks Men’s soccer: Washington at Stanford, 3 p.m.; Pac-12 Networks Women’s soccer: Washington at Stanford, 5:30 p.m.; Pac-12 Networks
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Stanford has celebrated after winning the past two Big Games, last year in Stanford Stadium, but has lost four of the past five games held in Berkeley — site of the 115th annual showdown on Saturday.
New date, but same Big Game challenge Stanford’s wealth of linebackers is hoping to contain Cal’s No. 3 rushing offense in the Pac-12 by Rick Eymer
D
avid Shaw has a problem any college football coach would love to have. He has too many good inside linebackers. The position was severely tested when Shayne Skov went down for the season last year and A.J. Tarpley and Jarek Lancaster were expected to carry the baton, which they did admirably.
Skov’s return this season meant Tarpley and Lancaster were regulated to reserve roles again. But that has been a blessing for Shaw because it means one or more of them, with James Vaughters also in the mix, will be fresh for special teams action. Shaw considers his linebackers key to that aspect of the game plan. Calling them reserves may not be
the best description for them either. All four linebackers see plenty of action. “We can consider ourselves starters,” Tarpley said. “We all prepare as starters.” And Shaw has continually downplayed the starting role, saying it doesn’t matter who participates in the first play of the game. No matter who starts when No. 22
Stanford (2-1, 4-2) travels to Berkeley to take on California (2-2, 3-4) in the 115th annual Big Game on Saturday at noon, it’s pretty clear someone else may be in as soon as the second play. Skov, fourth on the team with 31 tackles, is credited with five starts (he sat out the game against San (continued on page 37)
PREP ROUNDUP
STANFORD ROUNDUP
Gunn, Castilleja golf teams wrap up titles
Top women tee it up at Stanford
by Keith Peters he regular season is just about over for local girls’ golf teams, two of which wrapped up their respective division championships this week. Now, the going gets a bit tougher for Gunn, Castilleja and a host of others. The Central Coast Section has toughened up its qualifying standards this year, with each league getting only one automatic berth with only five at-large berths available. In previous seasons, the regular-season champ got a free pass to CCS along with the winner of the league tournament. While the decision on how the league champion is decided rests with each individual league, Gunn
T
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by Rick Eymer hen Dr. Condoleezza Rice needs help with her golf swing, she turns to Stanford women’s golf assistant coach Kathryn Imrie. When Stanford senior Sally Watson looks for life advice, she turns to Rice. All three of them join forces this weekend when the Cardinal hosts the Stanford Intercollegiate, turning a routine tournament into a Big Game Week event. It was Imrie’s idea to involve Rice, a long-time golf fan who has a holein-one to her credit. “It’s turned out to be tremendous,” Stanford coach Anne Walker said.
W Richard C. Ersted/stanfordphoto.com
Men’s water polo: Stanford at Cal, 9:30 a.m.; Pac-12 Networks College football: Stanford at Cal, noon; FOX (2); KNBR (1050 AM); KZSU (90.1 FM)
John Todd/isiphotos.com
STILL PERFECT The Palo Alto Knights’ Jr. Midgets football team has a history with its counterpart Oak Grove of San Jose. The teams have met in the NorCal Championship game in each of the past three seasons, with Palo Alto winning all three and advancing to the national playoffs. While there’s a good chance the two will meet once again in the playoffs, it won’t be the only time. In fact, a preview of the postseason will be on display Sunday at Palo Alto High when the teams meet at 4:30 p.m. Both teams will bring 8-0 records to the showdown. The Knights are currently ranked No. 5 in the nation while Oak Grove is ranked No. 8 in the American Youth Football Division I Power Rankings. In addition to the Jr. Midgets’ game on Sunday, the Knights will host Oak Grove in Jr. Pee Wee (11 a.m.), Tiny Mites (1 p.m.) and Cadets (2:30 p.m.). The Palo Alto Jr. Midgets improved to 8-0 with a 40-6 victory over the San Francisco Seahawks on Sunday at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. Palo Alto coaches were expecting a much-closer game, but Jordan Schilling and his teammates had other expectations as they scored 40 or more points for the third time this season. Schilling had more than 100 yards rushing and scored a touchdown on a 96-yard halfback pass from Ethan Stern with one second left in the first half — catching the ball on the 20-yard line and racing 80 yards down the sideline. The Knights also scored on a 35-yard pass from Jake Rittman to Ty Wilcox while Stern added an eight-yard TD run while surpassing 100 rushing yards for for a fifth straight game.
Senior Sally Watson will lead the Cardinal women in this weekend’s Stanford Invitational at the Stanford Golf Course.
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