Stanford Cardinal


The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of December 22, 2019, Stanford's program has won 126 NCAA team championships, as well as 25 consecutive NACDA Directors' Cups, awarded annually to the most successful overall college sports program in the nation. As of February 15, 2019, Stanford-affiliated athletes have won 270 Olympic medals. Stanford's teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, along with other schools from the western third of the United States.

Nickname and mascot history

Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams. White was adopted as a secondary color in the 1940s.
On November 25, 1930, following a unanimous vote by the Executive Committee for the Associated Students, the athletic department adopted the mascot "Indian". A few months after the football team's second straight win in the in January 1972, the Indian symbol and name were dropped by President Richard Lyman, after objections from Native American students and a vote by the student senate.
From 1972 to 1981, the official nickname returned to "Cardinals," a reference to the color, not the bird. During the 1970s, a number of suggestions were put forth as possible nicknames: Robber Barons, Sequoias, Trees, Railroaders, Spikes, Huns and Griffins. The last suggestion gained enough momentum to prompt the university to place two griffin statues near the athletic facilities.
On November 17, 1981, school president Donald Kennedy declared that the athletic teams be represented by the color cardinal in its singular form.
Stanford has no official mascot, but the Stanford Tree, a member of the Stanford Band wearing a self-designed tree costume, appears at major Stanford sports events. The Tree is based on El Palo Alto, a redwood tree in neighboring Palo Alto that appears in the Stanford seal and athletics logo.

Sports sponsored

Stanford University sponsors 36 varsity sports teams — 15 men's, 20 women's, and two coed sports — competing primarily in the NCAA Division I and the Pac-12 Conference. The rowing program competes in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association, the men's and women's gymnastics, track and field, men's volleyball, men's and women's water polo, and women's lacrosse all compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the field hockey program competes in the America East Conference, sailing in the Intercollegiate Sailing Association, squash program in the College Squash Association, and the synchro program in the USA Synchro.
In July 2020, due to increased financial constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford Athletics announced they will be eliminating 11 varsity teams after the conclusion of the 2020-2021 academic year: men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling. That will reduce the number of varsity sports at Stanford from 36 to 25.

Football

Basketball

Baseball

The Cardinal have appeared in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament 31 times, and appearing in the College World Series 16 times. They have won two National Championships, in 1987 and 1988.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won nine NCAA Championships: 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1953, 1994, 2007, 2019. They have crowned three individual national champions: Sandy Tatum, Tiger Woods, and Cameron Wilson. They have won 11 Pac-12 Conference championships: 1960, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1992, 1994, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019. Other notable players include Tom Watson, Bob Rosburg, NFL quarterback John Brodie, and Notah Begay III.

Women's golf

In 1971 Shelley Hamlin won the women's national intercollegiate individual golf championship.

Sailing

Stanford Sailing has won the 1997 Intercollegiate Sailing Association Team Race Championship, the ICSA Men's Singlehanded Championship in 1963, 1967, and 2006, and the ICSA Women's Singlehanded Championship in 2000 and 2018.
In March 2019, John Vandemoer, Stanford University’s head sailing coach for 11 years, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering for accepting bribes in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, to hold open admission spots at the university for three applicants falsely portrayed as competitive sailors, in exchange for $770,000 in payments to the sailing program. The university fired him. Clinton Hayes was appointed interim head coach.

Men's soccer

The Cardinal have appeared in the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament 14 times since their inaugural season in 1973, including 11 times in the 20 seasons from 1997–2016. They have seven appearances in the College Cup, including winning the 2015, 2016, and 2017 national championships.

Women's soccer

The Cardinal won the NCAA women's soccer championship in 2011, 2017, and 2019.

Softball

The Cardinal softball team has appeared in two Women's College World Series, in 2001 and 2004. The Cardinal program was the co-champions of the PAC-10 conference in 2005, which is their only conference championship. The current head softball coach of the Stanford program is Jessica Allister.

Men's tennis

The Cardinal have won 17 NCAA Men's tennis championships: 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981,1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000.

Women's tennis

The Cardinal have won 20 of the 38 NCAA Women's tennis championships that have taken place: 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2019.
Stanford has won more than half of all the NCAA women's tennis
championships that have been held, and this has been true in every year
except 1983, 1985, 2015, and 2017, when Stanford had won exactly half.

Women's volleyball

The Cardinal have won 9 NCAA Women's volleyball national championships: in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Stanford is one of only two teams, along with Penn State, that has appeared in every NCAA tournament since its inception in 1981. Stanford has won 9 NCAA championships, the most of any team, and has appeared in 17 championship games, more than any other team.

Wrestling

The Stanford Wrestling team is coached by Jason Borrelli. Borrelli wrestled at Central Michigan University. Currently in his sixth season, Borrelli has compiled a 42-53-3 career record. The Cardinal wrestlers practice in the Weintz Family Wrestling Room, and compete on campus at Burnham Pavilion, with a capacity of about 1,400. The Cardinal Wrestling team have placed in the top 20 at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in 1967, 2004, 2008, 2011, and 2012. The team finished third in the Pacific Coast Conference placings in 1933 and 1935, second in the AAWU in 1965, third in the Pacific-10 Conference in 1985 and 1986 second in the Pac-10 in 2008, and third in the Pac-12 in 2012.
Stanford has one national champion in its history: Matt Gentry at 157 pounds in 2004. Through 2015, the Cardinal can claim 21 conference champions and 17 All-Americans, but no team Pac-12 titles.

Notable non-varsity sports

Rugby

Stanford has fielded a college rugby team since 1906, and replaced football entirely until 1917. Stanford achieved one of the most surprising victories of American rugby's early history by beating a touring Australian club team in 1912. Rugby remained a varsity sport at Stanford until 1977. Despite the loss of varsity status, the Stanford Rugby Foundation covers many of the team's expenses from an endowment fund. Rugby is one of the largest sports programs on campus with over 100 players. Stanford Rugby is led by Director of Rugby Matt Sherman, who has served as an assistant coach for the U.S. men's national team.
From 1996 to 1998 Stanford reached the national semifinals in three consecutive years, finishing second in 1998. During the 2010–11 season, Stanford was champion of the Northern California conference, reached the national quarterfinals, and finished the season ranked 4th in D1-AA rugby. Following the 2011–12 season, Stanford were promoted to Division 1-A and played in the California conference, but have since returned to Division 1-AA and now play in the Pacific Western conference. Stanford won the Pacific Western conference in 2014, earning a berth in the D1-AA national playoffs, where they defeated Oregon 24–12 at home in front of a strong crowd, before losing to Arizona 27–24 in the quarterfinals.

Championships

NCAA team championships

Stanford has won 126 NCAA team national championships, the most of any Division 1 school in the NCAA. Stanford has won these NCAA team championships in 20 different sports.
Below are 38 national team titles in NCAA sports that were not bestowed by the NCAA:
Below are 41 national team titles won by Stanford varsity and club sports teams at the highest collegiate levels in non-NCAA sports:
Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 44 consecutive years, starting in 1976-77 and continuing through 2019-20.
Stanford's run of 44 consecutive years winning an NCAA team championship is the longest such streak in NCAA history. The next longest NCAA championship streak is 19 years. The most NCAA team championships Stanford has won in a single year is six in 1996-97 and again in 2018-19. Stanford has won five NCAA team championships in a year three times.
Stanford has won two NCAA team championships in a single day three times: in men's and women's cross-country on November 25, 1996; in men's and women's cross-country on November 24, 2003; and in men's water polo and women's soccer on December 8, 2019.

NCAA individual championships

Stanford athletes have won 522 NCAA individual championships as of April 21, 2019.
Stanford's 522 individual championships are the most individual championships won by any school in NCAA Division I. No other Division I school is within 100 of Stanford's total.

Directors' Cups

Stanford has won the NACDA Directors' Cup every year for the last 25 years. The Directors' Cup recognizes the most successful overall sports program in NCAA Division I.
The Directors' Cup is awarded annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. The Directors' Cup rewards broad-based success in both men's and women's college sports. Points are awarded based on post-season success in NCAA-sponsored sports.
Stanford finished second in the first Directors' Cup competition in 1993-94, behind North Carolina. Stanford won its first Directors' Cup the following year, 1994-95. Stanford has won the Directors' Cup every year since then, winning 25 Directors' Cups in a row from 1994-95 through 2018-19.

Athletic facilities

The Cardinal's rivals consist of California, Notre Dame, San Jose State, and USC, which all primarily evolved from American football.

Olympics representation

Stanford athletes have traditionally been very well represented at the Olympics. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Stanford sent 47 current or former student athletes, 32 of whom competed for the United States, 14 for other countries, and one as a coach for the United States softball team. In all, Stanford athletes won 25 medals: For the 2012 London Olympics, 39 athletes were from Stanford and 26 represented Team USA.

Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame

The Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame was established on December 21, 1954. The brainchild of Walt Gamage, sports editor of the now-defunct Palo Alto Times, the first class of inductees consisted of 34 Stanford sports greats. New members are inducted annually and are recognized during halftime of a home Stanford football game. The Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame Room is located on the first floor of the Arrillaga Family Sports Center on the Stanford campus.
SportHall of Fame members
BaseballMike Aldrete, Jeff Austin, Jeff Ballard, Bob Boone, Bobby Brown, Paul Carey, Joe Chez, Steve Davis, Bert Delmas, Mike Dotterer, Frank Duffy, Steve Dunning, Chuck Essegian, Dutch Fehring, John Gall, Warren Goodrich, Jeffrey Hammonds, Eric Hardgrave, Jim Hibbs, A. J. Hinch, Ralph Holding, Ken Lilly, Jim Lonborg, Rick Lundblade, Mark Marquess, David McCarty, Jack McDowell, Dave Melton, Lloyd Merriman, Pete Middlekauff, Bob Murphy, Mike Mussina, Kyle Peterson, Larry Reynolds, Randy Rintala, Jack Shepard, Stan Spencer, Ed Sprague, Cook Sypher, Zeb Terry, Sandy Vance, Ray Young
Men's basketballForddy Anderson, John Arrillaga, Kimberly Belton, Mike Bratz, John Bunn, Don Burness, Jarron Collins, Jason Collins, Bill Cowden, Howie Dallmar, Ken Davidson, Tom Dose, Everett Dean, Don Griffin, Art Harris, Casey Jacobsen, Keith Jones, Adam Keefe, Rich Kelley, Brevin Knight, Todd Lichti, Hank Luisetti, Mark Madsen, Nip McHose, Mike Montgomery, Bryan "Dinty" Moore, Paul Neumann, Jim Pollard, John Revelli, Swede Righter, Harlow Rothert, George Selleck, Art Stoefen, Claude Terry, Ron Tomsic, Sebron "Ed" Tucker, Ed Voss, Jim Walsh, Don Williams, Howard Wright, George Yardley
Women's basketballJennifer Azzi, Kristin Folkl, Sonja Henning, Jeanne Ruark Hoff, Nicole Powell, Olympia Scott, Kate Starbird, Katy Steding, Trisha Stevens, Val Whiting, Candice Wiggins
Men's cross countryBrad Hauser, Don Kardong, Bob King, Harry McCalla, Duncan Macdonald
Women's cross countryMonal Chokshi, Alicia Craig, Lauren Fleshman, Ceci Hopp, Arianna Lambie, PattiSue Plumer, Kim Schnurpfeil-Griffin, Alison Wiley Rochon
Men's crewDan Ayrault, James Fifer, Conn Findlay, Duvall Hecht, Kent Mitchell, Edward P. Ferry, Kurt Seiffert
Women's crewCathy Thaxton-Tippett
Men's divingRick Schavone
Women's divingCassidy Krug, Eileen Richetelli, Rick Schavone
FencingNick Bravin, Al Snyder, Felicia Zimmermann
Field hockeyNancy White-Lippe
FootballFrankie Albert, Frank Alustiza, Bruno Banducci, Benny Barnes, Guy Benjamin, John Brodie, Jackie Brown, George Buehler, Don Bunce, Chris Burford, Ernie Caddel, Gordy Ceresino, Jack Chapple, Toi Cook, Bill Corbus, Murray Cuddeback, Ed Cummings, Dud DeGroot, Steve Dils, Pat Donovan, Mike Dotterer, John Elway, Chuck Evans, Skip Face, Hugh Gallarneau, Bobby Garrett, Ron George, Bobby Grayson, Bob "Bones" Hamilton, Ray Handley, Walt Heinecke, Tony Hill, Biff Hoffman, Brian Holloway, Dick Horn, Dick Hyland, Alex Karakozoff, Gary Kerkorian, Gordon King, Pete Kmetovic, Jim Lawson, Pete Lazetich, Vic Lindskog, James Lofton, John Lynch, Norm Manoogian, Ken Margerum, Ed McCaffrey, Bill McColl, Duncan McColl, Hal McCreery, Glyn Milburn, Phil Moffatt, Bob Moore, Sam Morley, Monk Moscrip, Wes Muller, Brad Muster, Darrin Nelson, Ernie Nevers, Dick Norman, Blaine Nye, Don Parish, John Paye, Jim Plunkett, Seraphim Post, John Ralston, Bob Reynolds, Don Robesky, Ken Rose, Harlow Rothert, John Sande III, Clark Shaughnessy, Harry Shipkey, Ted Shipkey, Jeff Siemon, Bob Sims, Malcolm Snider, Norm Standlee, Steve Stenstrom, Roger Stillwell, Bill Tarr, Chuck Taylor, Dink Templeton, Keith Topping, Tommy Vardell, Randy Vataha, Garin Veris, Bill Walsh, Glenn "Pop" Warner, Gene Washington, Bob Whitfield, Paul Wiggin, Kailee Wong, Dave Wyman
Men's golfNotah Begay, Warren Berl, Bud Brownell, Bob Cardinal, Art Doering, Don Edwards, Bud Finger, Wally Goodwin, Lawson Little, Dick McElyea, Malcolm MacNaughton, Bob Rosburg, Charles Seaver, Steve Smith, Frank "Sandy" Tatum, Eddie Twiggs, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods
Women's golfPatricia Cornett, Larissa Fontaine, Shelley Hamlin, Kathleen McCarthy-Scrivner, Mhairi McKay, Anne Quast-Sander, Mickey Wright
Men's gymnasticsSteve Hug, Jon Louis, Jair Lynch, Ted Marcy, Josh Stein
Women's gymnasticsLarissa Fontaine, Tabitha Yim
RugbyMarty Feldman, Joe Neal, Dick Ragsdale
SailingAnika Leerssen
SkiingBob Blatt
Men's soccerKlas Bergman, Harry Maloney, Ryan Nelsen
Women's soccerNicole Barnhart, Rachel Buehler, Jessica Fischer, Julie Foudy, Sarah Rafanelli, Kelley O'Hara, Christen Press
SoftballJessica Mendoza, Dana Sorensen
Men's swimmingBob Anderson, Ernie Brandsten, Mike Bruner, Greg Buckingham, Emmet Cashin, Austin Clapp, Pete Desjardins, Dave Fall, John Ferris, Wade Flemons, James Gaughran, Kurt Grote, Paul Hait, George Harrison, Tom Haynie, John Hencken, Marty Hull, Brian Job, Skip Kenney, Jeff Kostoff, John Moffett, Robin Moore, Pablo Morales, Jay Mortenson, Anthony Mosse, Sean Murphy, Wally O'Connor, Clarence Pinkston, Brian Retterer, Jeff Rouse, Dick Roth, Ralph Sala, Al White, Ted Wiget
Women's swimmingMarjorie Gestring Bowman, Sharon Stouder Clark, Marybeth Linzmeier Dorst, Catherine Fox, Sharon Geary Gee, George Haines, Brenda Helser De Morelos, Misty Hyman, Jenna Johnson-Younker, Janel Jorgensen, Tara Kirk, Lea Loveless Maurer, Susan Rapp von der Lippe, Eileen Richetelli, Shelly Ripple, Chris von Saltza Olmstead, Summer Sanders, Jenny Thompson
Synchronized swimmingSara Lowe, Heather Olson
Men's tennisJoe Coughlin, Jim Davies, Laurence Dee, Jim Delaney, Bennett Dey, John Doeg, Jack Douglas, Jack Frost, Keith Gledhill, Dan Goldie, Dick Gould, Alan Herrington, Cranston Holman, Alex Kim, Sam Lee, Alex Mayer, Tim Mayotte, Ralph McElvenny, John McEnroe, Patrick McEnroe, Matt Mitchell, R. Lindley Murray, Philip Neer, Alex O'Brien, Jared Palmer, Ted Schroeder, William Seward, Roscoe Tanner, James Wade, John Whitlinger
Women's tennisJane Albert Willens, Julia Anthony, Sandra Birch, Frank Brennan, Patty Fendick-McCain, Linda Gates, Laura Granville, Debbie Graham, Susan Hagey Wall, Carol Hanks, Julie Heldman, Barbara Jordan, Kathy Jordan, Amber Liu, Diane Morrison Shropshire, Meredith McGrath, Alycia Moulton, Lilia Osterloh
Men's track and fieldTerry Albritton, Gaylord Bryan, Otis Chandler, Ernie Cunliffe, Gordon Dunn, Hec Dyer, Ben Eastman, Ward Edmonds, Tiny Hartranft, Brad Hauser, Bud Held, Clyde Jeffrey, Gabe Jennings, Payton Jordan, Don Kardong, Bob King, Morris Kirksey, Sam Klopstock, Eric Krenz, Henri Laborde, Hugo "Swede" Leistner, James Lofton, Leo Long, John Lyman, Harry McCalla, Duncan Macdonald, Ray Malott, Bob Mathias, August Meier, Bill Miller, Ted Miller, Larry Questad, Jim Reynolds, Bill Richardson, Harlow Rothert, Bud Spencer, Toby Stevenson, Bob Stoecker, Dink Templeton, Jack Weiershauser, Dave Weill, Pete Zagar
Women's track and fieldCarol Cady, Monal Chokshi, Alicia Craig, Pam Dukes, Jackie Edwards, Lauren Fleshman, Ceci Hopp, Arianna Lambie, Tracye Lawyer, Erica McLain, PattiSue Plumer, Kim Schnurpfeil-Griffin, Alison Wiley Rochon
Men's volleyballCanyon Ceman, Scott Fortune, Dan Hanan, Michael Lambert, Jon Root
Women's volleyballFoluke Akinradewo, Kristin Klein Keefe, Ogonna Nnamani, Beverly Oden, Kim Oden, Wendi Rush, Lisa Sharpley-Vanacht, Don Shaw, Teresa Smith-Richardson, Logan Tom, Kerri Walsh, Cary Wendell Wallin
Men's water poloTony Azevedo, James Bergeson, Doug Burke, Jody Campbell, Austin Clapp, Dante Dettamanti, Chris Dorst, Charles K. Fletcher, John Gansel, James Gaughran, Marty Hull, Craig Klass, Drew McDonald, Alan Mouchawar, Wally O'Connor, John Parker, Gary Sheerer, Ted Wiget
Women's water poloEllen Estes, Jackie Frank, Brenda Villa
WrestlingTanner Gardner, Matt Gentry, Vern Jones
ServiceTed Leland, Don Liebendorfer, Sam MacDonald, Al Masters