Oct. 29, 2011

2011 Pan Am Games Schedule/Results

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - The beginning of the final weekend of competition at the 2011 Pan Am Games featured more gold coming the way of Stanford athletes. Friday, Sara Hall (Bei) raced to a seven-second victory to claim gold in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the U.S. women's water polo team, featuring five Stanford representatives, outlasted Canada in a thrilling 27-26 shootout win to take the gold and earn the region's automatic Olympic tournament berth in 2012.

Women's Diving
Stanford graduate Cassidy Krug won a silver medal in the three-meter springboard on the second to last day of the Pan American Games on Friday night.

In a tight three-way battle, Krug finished in between Mexico's Laura Sanchez (374.60) and Paola Espinosa (356.20) with 372.65 points.

On Krug's final dive, a forward 2 ½ somersault twist, she hit 8.0's and two 8.5's, but was edged by 1.95 points. Sanchez' final dive was 8.5's or better.

On her fourth dive, with 8.0's and 8.5's on a reverse 2 ½ somersault Krug moved into first place, four points in front of Sanchez. She had trailed the leader, Espinosa, by .05 points after the third dive.

She moved into second place at the halfway point, scoring 8.5's on a back 2 ½ somersault after briefly dropping to third place. Krug opened up her evening session with five 9.0's on her first dive after scoring the top score in the preliminary rounds (345.60).

Krug closes out the divers at the Pan Am Games on Saturday when she dives with partner Kassidy Cook in the three-meter synchro.

Women's Gymnastics
Stanford's Kristina Vaculik won a silver medal on the balance beam on Friday night. Vaculik, who led Canada to a team silver in the women's event and was runner-up in the all around, claimed her third Pan Am medal with a score of 13.925 in the beam final. She also placed fourth in the floor final.

Women's Track and Field
Sara Hall, formerly Sara Bei during her time at Stanford, won the gold medal with a convincing seven-second victory in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday. Hall crossed the line in 10:03.16 to win gold, with Colombia's Angela Maria Figueroa (10:10.14) and Brazil's Sabine Heitling (10:10.98) rounding out the medal stand.

Women's Water Polo
The U.S. women will be headed to London for the 2012 Olympic Games after winning the gold medal match with a 27-26 shootout victory over Canada.

The U.S. trailed 5-2 at halftime after Canada scored four times in the second period, and still trailed by three heading into the final frame. But in the fourth period, the U.S. turned the tables on Canada, scoring four times and holding the Canadians to one goal to force extra time.

There, neither team could break through, forcing the shootout.

It took four full rounds of five shooters each to decide the gold medal and automatic Olympic berth. Stanford's Brenda Villa and Maggie Steffens shot fourth and fifth, respectively, in the shootout, each going 4-for-4. Steffens would get credit for the winning goal, as she opened the 20th round with a conversion followed by Canada's Joelle Bekhazi hitting the post on her attempt to seal the American victory.