June 22, 2012

Stanford Athletics on Facebook

STANFORD, Calif. - Voting for the Stanford Fan Choice Awards continues Friday on the Stanford Athletics on Facebook page, with the release of the final category's nominees: male athlete of the year.

Fans can also continue to vote for their choices of Performance of the Year, Game of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year. Voting continues until 8 p.m. PT Sunday, June 24.

The Male Athlete of the Year nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

Nick Amuchastegui - Wrestling
Stanford's 174-lb. star, Nick Amuchastegui ended his stellar career going 24-1 and reaching the NCAA Championship Final in St. Louis. Although he fell short in the title match, Amuchastegui still put together one of the finest wrestling seasons and careers ever seen on The Farm.

Amuchastegui was unanimously voted the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year in 2012, becoming only the second Stanford wrestler to earn the honor. He captured the 174-lb. Pac-12 crown, his second conference title, and for his career never finished lower than second at the conference tournament.

He concluded his collegiate career with a 118-19 overall record, marking the fourth-best win total in program history. Amuchastegui competed in four NCAA Championships, earning All-America status on three occasions, joining Tanner Gardner as Stanford's only three-time All-Americans.

Chris Derrick - Men's Cross Country/Men's Track & Field
Among the most decorated distance runners in the nation, Chris Derrick put together a 2011-12 season to remember with both the Cardinal cross-country and track teams.

In the fall, Derrick finished second at the NCAA Championships, in the process becoming just the sixth athlete to finish in the national top 10 four times over a career. Derrick turned in another runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Championships prior to NCAAs. Derrick's efforts paced the Cardinal's second-place finish at Pac-12s and fifth-place effort at NCAAs.

Come spring, Derrick continued his big year on the track. During the indoor season, Derrick smashed the Stanford 5,000-meter record on Feb. 11, running a 13.19.58 at the Flotrack Husky Classic. He would go on to finish second at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in both the 3,000 and 5,000-meter races, and claimed second in the mile at the MPSF Championships.

The record breaking continued in the spring outdoor season, as Derrick set the new American collegiate record in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Invitational. Racing at Stanford, Derrick crossed the line in a time of 27:31.38, breaking the record previously held by Galen Rupp by just over two seconds and setting the new Stanford record by a whopping 28 seconds. Derrick also became just the second Cardinal runner to break 28 minutes in the 10K, joining Ian Dobson, who ran it in 27:59.72 in 2005.

He would go on to claim the 5,000-meter title at the Pac-12 Championships in May, then at the NCAA Championships in June, Derrick finished third in the 10,000 meters, earning his 14th career All-America honor.

Andrew Luck - Football
Andrew Luck finished off an historic career in 2012 by leading the Cardinal to its second straight BCS bowl as well as to an 11-2 mark.

On the year, Luck completed 71.3 percent of his passes for 3,517 yards and a Stanford single-season record 37 touchdowns in addition to rushing for two more scores. He was named an All-American by numerous outlets, Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting for the second straight year.

Luck claimed the Walter Camp Football Foundation's Player of the Year and Maxwell Award as the nation's top player, in addition to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation's top quarterback.

His performances included completing 29 of 40 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns while running for another in Stanford's 56-48 triple overtime victory over USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Oct. 30.

For his career, Luck left The Farm ranked first in touchdown passes (82), completion percentage (.687; 713-1064), passing efficiency (162.76) and total offense (10,387), and ranked second to Steve Stenstrom (10,531; 1991-94) in career passing yardage (9,430).

David Nolan - Men's Swimming
Freshman David Nolan played a key role in Stanford Men's Swimming's third-place national finish in March, accounting for 60 of the Cardinal's points at the NCAA Championships.

In his first year on The Farm, Nolan was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and earned seven All-America honors with seven top-five finishes. he finished as runner-up in the 100 and 200 Backs, third in the 200 IM, fourth in the 400 Medley Relay and fifth in the 200 and 400 Free Relays and the 200 Medley Relay.

At the Pac-12 Championships, Nolan claimed individual titles in the 200 back (1:40.70), 200 IM (1:42.52) and 100 back (45.76), as well as being part of the champion 400 medley, 200 and 800 free relay teams. His performance at the conference championships led to Nolan being named Swimmer of the Meet.

Erik Shoji - Men's Volleyball
Senior libero Erik Shoji capped off a record-setting career with the Cardinal in 2012, ending his career as the collegiate record holder in digs (1,402) and as Stanford's only four-time member of the AVCA All-America First Team.

Shoji was part of a Stanford senior class that claimed the program's first national title in 2010 and went 86-33 over its Cardinal career. In 2012, Shoji made 304 digs to help the team to a 22-7 record, including a 15-7 MPSF mark that was Stanford's best conference record since 1997.

In addition to being named to the AVCA All-America First Team, Shoji was named to the All-MPSF First Team and the MPSF All-Tournament Team. Stanford finished the season ranked No. 3 in the polls, just missing out on a berth in the NCAA Championship after a heart-breaking loss to UC Irvine in the MPSF championship game.