June 24, 2011

Stanford Athletics on Facebook

STANFORD, Calif. - Voting for the Stanford Fan Choice Awards continues Friday on the Stanford Athletics on Facebook page, as the nominees for the fifth and final category, Performance of the Year are released.

Voting for the Male and Female Athletes of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Game of the Year, which began Monday, will continue throughout the week before overall voting concludes Sunday night.

The Performance of the Year nominees, in chronological order, are:

Sept. 25, 2010 - Marecic Finds The End Zone From Both Sides At Notre Dame
Senior fullback/linebacker Owen Marecic was celebrated as a throwback during the 2010 season as one of the nation's few full-time two-way players. His versatility on each side of the football was never more visible than in the Cardinal's 37-14 win at Notre Dame on Sept. 25, when Marecic scored a touchdown on both offense and defense just 13 seconds apart. With the Cardinal leading 19-6 and on the Notre Dame 1-yard line with 7:58 remaining, Marecic plunged over the line for the touchdown that put the Cardinal comfortably ahead. On Notre Dame's first play from scrimmage following the ensuing kickoff, Marecic picked off a Dayne Crist pass at the Irish 20 and sailed untouched into the end zone, icing the game and becoming the first player to score a touchdown on offense and defense in the same game since Utah safety Eric Weddle in 2006.

Dec. 30, 2010 - Pohlen's Career Night Snaps Connecticut's Record Streak
In front of a packed house in Maples Pavilion and under the watch of a national television audience, two-time defending national champion Connecticut put its NCAA-record 90-game winning streak on the line in a rematch of the 2010 national title game against the surging Cardinal women. The last team to have defeated the Huskies, back in 2008, the Cardinal bookended the Connecticut run as senior guard Jeanette Pohlen put on a shooting clinic, going 5-for-9 from behind the arc and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line while scoring a career-high 31 points with nine rebounds and six assists in Stanford's 71-59 victory. Pohlen keyed the Cardinal offense all game, scoring 10 points over Stanford's 17-4 run to start the contest, then netting 17 in the second half as the Cardinal held off a second-half charge from the Huskies to end the streak.

March 12, 2011 -Heath Leaves Field In The Dust To Win NCAA Indoor 3,000-Meter Title
It had been four years since a Stanford male track and field athlete had captured an NCAA indoor event title, but it only took senior Elliott Heath slightly over eight minutes to erase that wait. One night after setting a new Stanford record while finishing fifth in the 5,000 meters, Heath used a blazing finishing kick to leave the field behind and capture the NCAA indoor 3,000-meter title in a time of 8:03.71. Heath ran much of the race with the pack, before stepping to the outside of the gaggle and pulling away in his gold medal-winning performance, which helped the Cardinal men finish eighth overall at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

March 17-19, 2011 - Mango Battles Through Injury To Earn All-America Finish At NCAA Wrestling Championships
Sophomore Ryan Mango entered his second NCAA Championships with a No. 7 seeding in the 125-lb. weight class, and wasn't about to let a knee injury inhibit his chance at a first All-America nod. Wrestling with an LCL injury to his knee, Mango gutted his way through eight matches over three days to earn sixth place and All-America status. He finished the first day of the event with a 3-0 run through the winner's bracket, earning grueling decisions over his first two opponents before pinning the third to complete the day. Despite a loss to open the second day, Mango bounced back to out-point his next two opponents in the consolation bracket, earning his way into the top six. The next day, he fought through the knee injury to complete his season with a sixth-place national finish and a record of 26-7.

May 15, 2011 - Dries Scores Five To Lead Stanford To Water Polo National Title
Cross-bay rival California just had no answer for Annika Dries in the 2011 women's water polo NCAA title game. The sophomore two-meter was just too strong for her Golden Bear defenders as she powered her way to five goals in Stanford's 9-5 victory in Ann Arbor, Mich. that clinched Cardinal women's water polo's second NCAA title. Dries would score Stanford's first two goals of the game, and four of its first five, as she led the Cardinal to a 5-1 lead just 24 seconds into the second half. Playing in the whole and battling constant double-teams, Dries, the Peter J. Cutino Award winner as the nation's top female collegiate player, consistently out-worked and out-muscled her defenders in scoring many of her goals in the contest, and was voted the National Collegiate Championship Most Valuable Player for her effort.

Fans may also write-in their choice if a performance is not listed in the nominees above.

Voting for all five categories will continue until 9 p.m. PT Sunday evening, with the winners announced Monday morning on www.gostanford.com.