June 20, 2012

Stanford Athletics on Facebook

STANFORD, Calif. - Voting for the Stanford Fan Choice Awards continues Wednesday on the Stanford Athletics on Facebook page, as the Newcomer of the Year nominees are released.

Fans can also continue to vote for their choices of Performance of the Year and Game of the Year.

The Newcomer of the Year nominees, in chronological order of occurrence, are:

Alex Bowen, Men's Water Polo
In his first season at Stanford, utility Alex Bowen led the Cardinal with 53 goals, becoming the first true freshman to lead the team in scoring since Drac Wigo (2006) and Tony Azevedo (2001). Bowen also posted 17 multi-goal games, including 11 hat tricks. The highlight of those performances was a six-goal effort in a 10-9 overtime win over California that clinched Stanford's first SoCal Tournament title since 2002.

For that performance, Bowen earned the KAP 7 MPSF Player of the Week honor.

Following the season, Bowen was named to the ACWPC's All-America First Team in addition to being named MPSF Newcomer of the Year and to the All-MPSF First Team.

Kristian Ipsen, Men's Diving
Freshman diver Kristian Ipsen brought his international pedigree to The Farm in 2011-12, immediately making an impact by capturing the NCAA 3-meter title and earning three All-America nods. In addition to capturing the 3-meter title, Ipsen finished runner-up in the 1-meter competition and 10th on the platform.

Although he missed the Pac-12 Championships due to international competition, Ipsen captured the 3- and 1-meter titles and took sixth on platform at the Zone Championships.

Looking to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team this week at the diving trials, Ipsen balanced a hefty international schedule along with his domestic competition. Since August 2011, Ipsen has made the medal stand at such events as the AT&T Diving Championships (two gold), the Pan-Am Games (one silver) and the diving grand prix (one silver).

Kiley Neushul, Women's Water Polo
Neushul wasted no time making her presence known for the Cardinal in 2011-12, leading the team with 58 goals en route to a second straight national title and third overall. At the National Collegiate Championship in San Diego in mid-May, Neushul scored three goals, including a goal in the Cardinal's 6-4 title-game win over USC.

The freshman driver recorded 11 hat tricks and 17 multi-goal games as the Cardinal went 26-2 overall, including a perfect 7-0 record in MPSF regular-season play.

In early June, Neushul became Stanford's fourth winner of the Peter J. Cutino Award, given annually to both the top collegiate men's and women's water polo players. Her performance on the year also led to her being named MPSF Newcomer of the Year as well as to the All-MPSF First Team and All-Newcomer Team. Additionally, she earned one KAP 7 MPSF Player of the Week honor (April 16) in addition to being a four-time KAP 7 MPSF Newcomer of the Week (Jan. 30, Feb. 27, March 12, April 23).

Chasson Randle, Men's Basketball
Randle was a key member of an explosive group of underclassmen that helped drive Stanford to its second NIT title in 2011-12.

Starting 36 of team's 37 games, Randle led the Cardinal in scoring (13.8 ppg) and minutes played per game (30.5) while ranking second in steals (42) and assists (76). He produced one of the best rookie seasons in school history, ranking among the top four all-time in the following categories: 3-pointers made (1st), field goals attempted (1st), minutes (1st), games started (1st), points (2nd), field goals made (2nd), scoring average (3rd), assists (4th) and steals (4th).

Randle, a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection, scored in double figures 27 times in his rookie campaign, saving some of his best performances for Stanford's NIT title run in which he averaged 14.0 points while shooting 47.9 percent overall, 47.8 percent from 3-point territory and 76.5 percent from the foul line.

Chioma Ubogagu, Women's Soccer
A dynamic attacking player with great speed and skill, Ubogagu established herself right away as a player to watch for the Cardinal. She scored 10 goals (second on the team) with 10 assists (third) for a total of 30 points, third-most on the squad, as the Cardinal claimed its first NCAA title.

Those numbers helped lead to her being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, to the Soccer America All-Freshman First Team, the NSCAA All-Pacific Region Second Team, the All-Pac-12 Second Team and All-Freshman Team, and the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team.

Ubogagu stepped right into the spotlight at the College Cup, scoring Stanford's first goal then assisting on the second just over two minutes later in the 3-0 semifinal win over Florida State. Two days later, the freshman was part of the sequence which led to the lone goal of Stanford's 1-0 title-clinching win over Duke, supplying a through ball to Camille Levin, who worked ahead and fed Teresa Noyola for the goal.