July 15, 2010

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Stanford women's athletics was honored Wednesday night at the ESPY Awards with the Capital One Award, recognizing the Cardinal as the top women's athletic program in the nation.

Stanford captured the women's honor while Duke University took the award for the top men's athletic program.

The award was accepted by Stanford women's basketball All-American Nnemkadi Ogwumike in a backstage presentation at the ESPYs in Los Angeles.

Stanford's women's athletics teams boasted one of the top showings of all collegiate women's programs in the nation. Two Cardinal teams, women's tennis and women's lightweight rowing (varsity eight), captured national championships, while five additional teams (basketball, soccer, swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo) turned in runner-up finishes.

On an individual level, swimmers Julia Smit (200 IM, 400 IM, 400 free relay) and Elaine Breeden (100 fly, 200 fly) were multi-NCAA individual championship winners, while swimmers Kate Dwelley, Betsy Webb and Sam Woodward (400 free relay), the tennis doubles team of Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette and women's gymnast Carly Janiga (uneven bars) all captured individual national titles as well.

Soccer standout Kelley O'Hara took home three different National Player of the Year honors, sharing the Top Drawer Soccer honor with Stanford teammate Christen Press.

Overall, six Stanford female student-athletes were also named their conference's player of the year, and 49 earned All-America honors.