The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive years, starting in 1976–77 and continuing through 2021–22. Stanford won 25 consecutive

NACDA Directors' Cup The NACDA Directors' Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the NACDA Learfield Directors' Cup or simply as the Directors' Cup, is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and univers ...

s, from 1994–95 through 2018–19, awarded annually to the most successful overall college sports program in the nation. 177 Stanford-affiliated athletes have won a total of 296 Summer Olympic medals (150 gold, 79 silver, 67 bronze), including 26 medals at the 2020 Tokyo games. Stanford's teams compete at the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I (

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS) for

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

) level as a member of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, along with other schools from the western third of the United States.

Nickname and mascot history

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

red was chosen as Stanford's official color by an assembly of the university's first students in 1891. White was adopted as a secondary color in the 1940s. Following Stanford's win over

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the first-ever Big Game on March 19, 1892, the team was

metonymically Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name ...

referred to as the "Cardinal" by sportswriters in the next day's

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

. The university's athletic teams continued to be referred to as the "Cardinal" or "Cardinals" even after the adoption of the "Indians" name. Ticket Washington vs Stanford 1930 side1

Ticket Washington vs Stanford 1930 side1

On November 25, 1930, following a unanimous vote by the Executive Committee for the Associated Students, the athletic department adopted the mascot "Indian". On March 3, 1972, a few months after the football team's second straight win in the Rose Bowl, the Indian symbol and name were dropped by Stanford president Richard Lyman after objections from Native American students and a vote by the student senate. From 1972 to 1981, the official nickname returned to "Cardinals," a reference to the

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

, not the

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

. During the 1970s, a number of suggestions were put forth as possible nicknames: Robber Barons (a sly reference to

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Se ...

's history), Sequoias, Trees, Railroaders, Spikes, Huns and

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

s. The last suggestion gained enough momentum to prompt the athletics department to move two griffin statues from the site of the former Stanford Home for Convalescent Children to near the athletic facilities. On November 17, 1981, school president

Donald Kennedy Donald Kennedy (August 18, 1931 – April 21, 2020) was an American scientist, public administrator, and academic. He served as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1977–1979), President of Stanford University (1980– ...

declared that the athletic teams be represented by the color cardinal in its singular form. Stanford has no official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

, but the Stanford Tree, a member of the

Stanford Band The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) is the student marching band representing Stanford University and its athletic teams. Billing itself as "The World's Largest Rock and Roll Band," the Stanford Band performs at sporting ...

wearing a self-designed tree costume, appears at major Stanford sports events. The Tree is based on

El Palo Alto El Palo Alto (Spanish language, Spanish: 'the tall stick') is a Sequoia sempervirens, coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') located on the banks of the San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto, California, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ...

, a

redwood tree Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world. Description The three redwood subfamily genera are '' Sequoia'' from co ...

in neighboring

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

that appears in the Stanford seal and athletics logo.

Sports sponsored

Stanford University sponsors 36 varsity sports teams — 15 men's, 20 women's, and two coed sports — competing primarily in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

and the

. The rowing program competes in the

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's ope ...

, the men's and women's gymnastics, men's volleyball, men's and women's water polo, and women's lacrosse all compete in the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I ...

, the field hockey program competes in the

America East Conference The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research u ...

, sailing in the

Intercollegiate Sailing Association The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is a volunteer organization that serves as the governing authority for all sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. History The fi ...

, squash program in the College Squash Association, and the synchro program in the USA Synchro. In July 2020, due to increased financial constraints caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Stanford Athletics announced they will be eliminating 11 varsity teams after the conclusion of the 2020–2021 academic year: men's and women's fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men's rowing, co-ed and women's sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men's volleyball and wrestling. These planned cuts were canceled in May 2021.

Football

Basketball

Baseball

The Cardinal have appeared in the

NCAA Division I baseball tournament The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb ...

31 times, and appearing in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

16 times. They have won two National Championships, in 1987 and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Field Hockey

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won nine

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

: 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942 (co-champions), 1946, 1953, 1994, 2007, 2019. They have crowned three individual national champions:

Sandy Tatum Frank Donovan "Sandy" Tatum Jr. (July 7, 1920 – June 22, 2017) was an attorney, a golf administrator, a golf course architect, a golf promoter, and an amateur golfer. Golf career NCAA champion Tatum attended Stanford University, where he was a ...

(1942),

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

(1996), and Cameron Wilson (2014). They have won 11

championships: 1960, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977 (south), 1992, 1994, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019. Other notable players include Tom Watson, Bob Rosburg, NFL quarterback

John Brodie John Riley Brodie (born August 14, 1935) is a former American football player, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He had a second career as a Senior PGA Tour professional golfer, and ...

, and

Notah Begay III Notah Ryan Begay III (born September 14, 1972) is a Native American professional golfer. He is one of the only Native American golfers to have played in the PGA Tour. Since 2013, Begay has served as an analyst with the Golf Channel and NBC Spor ...

Women's golf

In 1971 Shelley Hamlin won the women's national intercollegiate individual golf championship (an event conducted by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports, which evolved into the current NCAA women's golf championship). In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Stanford won the team title in the first

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

championship. In 2021, Rachel Heck won the NCAA individual title. In 2022, Rose Zhang won the NCAA individual title, and Stanford won the team title.

Sailing

Stanford Sailing has won the 1997

(ICSA) Team Race Championship, the ICSA Men's Singlehanded Championship in 1963, 1967, and 2006, and the ICSA Women's Singlehanded Championship in 2000 and 2018. In March 2019, John Vandemoer, Stanford University's head sailing coach for 11 years, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

for accepting bribes in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, to hold open admission spots at the university for three applicants falsely portrayed as competitive sailors, in exchange for $770,000 in payments to the sailing program. Unlike others indicted in the scheme, he did not personally benefit financially. The university fired Vandemoer. Clinton Hayes was appointed interim head coach.

Men's soccer

The Cardinal have appeared in the

NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champi ...

14 times since their inaugural season in 1973, including 11 times in the 20 seasons from 1997 to 2016. They have seven appearances in the College Cup, including winning the 2015, 2016, and 2017 national championships.

Women's soccer

The Cardinal won the NCAA women's soccer championship in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, 2017, and 2019.

Softball

The Cardinal softball team has appeared in two

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

, in 2001 and 2004. The Cardinal program was the co-champions of the PAC-10 conference in 2005, which is their only conference championship. The current head softball coach of the Stanford program is

Jessica Allister Jessica Lynne Allister (born October 7, 1982) is an American softball coach and former catcher who is the current head coach at Stanford. Allister played college softball at Stanford and earned second-team All-American honors in her senior season ...

Men's tennis

The Cardinal have won 17 NCAA Men's tennis championships: 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981,1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000.

Women's tennis

The Cardinal have won 20 of the 38 NCAA Women's tennis championships that have taken place: 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2019. Stanford has won more than half of all the NCAA women's tennis championships that have been held, and this has been true in every year except 1983, 1985, 2015, and 2017, when Stanford had won exactly half.

Donna Rubin Donna Rubin (born October 5, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. She represented the U.S. at the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel, winning a silver medal in doubles with Jodi Appelbaum-Steinbauer, and at the 1981 Maccabiah Gam ...

won the deciding doubles match which secured the 1978 AIAW championships, and in 1980 she was named an All-American.

Women's volleyball

The Cardinal have won 9 NCAA Women's volleyball national championships: in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2018 and 2019. Stanford appeared in the first 39 NCAA tournaments, failing to qualify for the postseason for the first time during the 2020–21 season. Only

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

has appeared in more. Stanford has won 9 NCAA championships, the most of any team, and has appeared in 17 championship games, more than any other team.

Wrestling

The Stanford

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

team is coached by Rob Koll, replacing Jason Borelli after he took the head coaching job at American University in 2021. In his 13 years as head coach, Borelli led the Cardinal to 122 dual wins, making him Stanford's winningest coach. The Cardinal wrestlers practice in the Weintz Family Wrestling Room, and compete on campus at Burnham Pavilion, with a capacity of about 1,400. The Cardinal Wrestling team have placed in the top 20 at the

NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have been held annually since 1928, except for a hiatus in 1943–45 during World War II and in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 1928 and from 1931–1933, there was only an unofficial team tit ...

in 1967 (13th), 2004 (19th), 2008 (19th), 2011 (11th), and 2012 (16th). The team finished third in the Pacific Coast Conference placings in 1933 and 1935, second in the AAWU in 1965, third in the Pacific-10 Conference in 1985 and 1986 second in the Pac-10 in 2008, and third in the Pac-12 in 2012. Stanford has two national champions in its history:

Matt Gentry Matthew Judah Gentry (born July 30, 1982) is Canadian-American former wrestler. Although Gentry was born in the United States, he represented Canada at the Olympic Games due to holding dual citizenship. He participated in the Men's freestyle 74 k ...

at 157 pounds in 2004 and Shane Griffith at 165 pounds in 2021. Stanford's wrestling program was one of the eleven the school planned on eliminating after the 2020–21 season. In response, the team wore solid black singlets without the school logo. Wrestling fans also led a movement to keep the program afloat before the school reversed its decision.

Notable non-varsity sports

Rugby

Stanford has fielded a

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

team since 1906, and replaced football entirely until 1917. Stanford achieved one of the most surprising victories of American rugby's early history by beating a touring Australian club team in 1912. Rugby remained a varsity sport at Stanford until 1977.Stanford Rugby, Foundation, http://www.stanfordrugby.org/ Despite the loss of varsity status, the Stanford Rugby Foundation covers many of the team's expenses from an endowment fund. Rugby is one of the largest sports programs on campus with over 100 players. Stanford Rugby is led by Director of Rugby

Matt Sherman Matt Sherman (born October 29, 1978 in San Francisco, California) is a former American rugby union fly-half and current coach of the Army men's rugby team at the United States Military Academy. His ‘21/‘22 Army West Point squad won the D1A Nat ...

, who has served as an assistant coach for the U.S. men's national team. From 1996 to 1998 Stanford reached the national semifinals in three consecutive years, finishing second in 1998. During the 2010–11 season, Stanford was champion of the Northern California conference, reached the national quarterfinals, and finished the season ranked 4th in D1-AA rugby. Following the 2011–12 season, Stanford were promoted to Division 1-A and played in the California conference, but have since returned to Division 1-AA and now play in the Pacific Western conference. Stanford won the Pacific Western conference in 2014, earning a berth in the D1-AA national playoffs, where they defeated Oregon 24–12 at home in front of a strong crowd, before losing to Arizona 27–24 in the quarterfinals.

Championships

NCAA team championships

Stanford has won 131 NCAA team national championships, the most of any Division 1 school in the NCAA. Stanford has won these NCAA team championships in 20 different sports. *Men's (69) **

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

(2): 1987, 1988 **

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

(1): 1942 ** Cross country (4): 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003 **

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

^† (9): 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1953, 1994, 2007, 2019 **

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

(8): 1992, 1993, 1995, 2009, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2022 **

Outdoor track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

(4): 1925 (unofficial), 1928, 1934, 2000 **

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(3): 2015, 2016, 2017 **

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

(8): 1967, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998 **

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

(17): 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 **

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

(2): 1997, 2010 **

Water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

(11): 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2019 *Women's (62) **

(3): 1990, 1992, 2021 ** Cross country (5): 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 **

(2): 2015, 2022 **

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

(1): 2009 **

(3): 2011, 2017, 2019 **

(11): 1983, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2017, 2018, 2019 **

(20): 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019 **

(9): 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2018, 2019 **

(8): 2002, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022 :† The NCAA started sponsoring the intercollegiate golf championship in 1939, but it retained the titles from the 41 championships previously conferred by the National Intercollegiate Golf Association in its records.

Other national team championships

Below are 39 national team titles in NCAA sports that were not bestowed by the NCAA: *Men's (17) **Basketball (1): 1937 (retroactive Helms and Premo-Porretta selectors) **Football (2): 1926, 1940 **Tennis (1): 1942 ^‡ **Tennis (12) ''(indoor)'': 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1985, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002 ( ITA) **Water polo (1): 1963 (coaches' poll) *Women's (22) **Rowing (9) ''(lightweight)'': 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 (

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

) **Swimming (1): 1980 (

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

) **Tennis (1): 1978 (AIAW) **Tennis (10) ''(indoor)'': 1989, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011 ( ITA) **Water polo (1): 1985 (

USA Water Polo USA Water Polo is the governing body of the sport of water polo in the United States and is a member of the United States Aquatic Sports. USA Water Polo is responsible for fielding national teams and hosts 20 annual tournaments. The Organization h ...

) :‡ Unofficial by virtue of winning both the collegiate individual and doubles crowns of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association Below are 42 national team titles won by Stanford varsity and club sports teams at the highest collegiate levels in non-NCAA sports: *Men's (5) **Rugby (1) ''(Div. II)'': 2002 **Sailing, offshore large boats (2): 1967, 1968 **Ultimate (2): 1984, 2002 *Women's (24) **Archery (2) ''(recurve)'': 2006, 2007 **Rugby (4): 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008 **Synchronized swimming (9): 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016, 2021 ( USA Synchro collegiate championships) **Table tennis (1): 2006 **Ultimate (8): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2016 *Combined (13) **Badminton (3): 1997, 1998, 1999 **Canoe/Kayak (4) ''(flatwater)'': 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 **Cycling (4) ''(road)'': 1995, 1996, 1997, 2007 **Sailing (1) ''(team race)'': 1997 ( ICSA) **Taekwondo (1): 2013

Consecutive years winning NCAA team championships

Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive years, starting in 1976–77 and continuing through 2021–22. This is the longest such streak in NCAA history. The second-longest NCAA championship streak ever was 19 years, achieved by USC from 1959–60 through 1977-78. As of June, 2022, the second-longest active streak is four years. The most NCAA team championships Stanford has won in a single year is six in 1996–97 (men's and women's cross-country, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's volleyball) and again in 2018–19 (men's golf and gymnastics and women's volleyball, swimming, tennis and water polo). Stanford has won five NCAA team championships in a year three times (1991–92, 1994–95, and 1997–98). In the 2019–2020 academic year, when collegiate athletics were cut short because of COVID, only seven NCAA team championships were held, all in fall sports, and Stanford won three of them. Stanford has won two NCAA team championships in a single day three times: in men's and women's cross-country on November 25, 1996; in men's and women's cross-country on November 24, 2003; and in men's water polo and women's soccer on December 8, 2019.

NCAA individual championships

Stanford athletes have won 529 NCAA individual championships as of January 1, 2022. Stanford's 529 individual championships are the most individual championships won by any school in NCAA Division I. No other Division I school is within 100 of Stanford's total.

Directors' Cups

Stanford won the

in 25 consecutive academic years, from 1994–95 through 2018-19. Stanford was the runner-up in 1993–94 and 2020–21, the other two years the Directors' Cup has been awarded. The Directors' Cup recognizes the most successful overall sports program in NCAA Division I. It is awarded annually by the

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 ins ...

(NACDA). The Directors' Cup rewards broad-based success in both men's and women's college sports. Points are awarded based on post-season success in NCAA-sponsored sports. Stanford finished second in the first Directors' Cup competition in 1993–94, behind North Carolina. Stanford won its first Directors' Cup the following year, 1994–95. From 1994–95 through 2018-19, Stanford won 25 Directors' Cups in a row. When the Directors' Cup was next awarded, in 2020-21, Stanford finished second, behind Texas.

Athletic facilities

Arrillaga Center for Sports and Recreation The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutiv ...

— Fencing, squash * Arrillaga Family Rowing and Sailing Center — Men's and women's rowing, Women's lightweight rowing, sailing *

Avery Aquatic Center The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

— Men's and women's swimming and diving, women's synchronized swimming, men's and women's water polo *

Burnham Pavilion Burnham may refer to: Places Canada *Burnham, Saskatchewan England * Burnham, Buckinghamshire ** Burnham railway station ** Burnham Grammar School *Burnham Green, Hertfordshire, location of The White Horse * Burnham, Lincolnshire **High Burnham, ...

— Men's and women's gymnastics, wrestling * Cobb Track and Angell Field — Men's and women's track and field *

Klein Field at Sunken Diamond Klein Field at Sunken Diamond is a college baseball park on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. It is the home field of the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12 Conference. The ...

— Baseball *

Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. The stadium hosts the Stanford Cardinal men's and women's soccer teams, as well as the women's lacrosse team. The fa ...

— Men's and women's soccer, women's lacrosse *

Maples Pavilion Maples Pavilion is a 7,392-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. Opened in 1969, Maples underwent a United States dollar, $30 million renovation in March 2004 and reopened ahead of schedule, in tim ...

— Men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball * Red Barn — Equestrian * Smith Family Stadium — Softball *

Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

— Beach volleyball *

Stanford Golf Course The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

— Men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf *

Stanford Stadium Stanford Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencemen ...

— Football *

Taube Tennis Center The Taube Tennis Center is an outdoor tennis facility on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. In addition to hosting the Stanford Cardinal's men's and women's tennis teams, the ...

— Men's and women's tennis *

Varsity Field Hockey Turf The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

—

Women's field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

Rivals

The Cardinal's rivals consist of

, Notre Dame,

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, and USC, which all primarily evolved from American football.

Olympics representation

Stanford athletes have traditionally been very well represented at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. 175 Stanford-affiliated athletes have won a total of 296 Summer Olympic medals (150 gold, 79 silver, 67 bronze). In the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, Stanford sent 47 current or former student athletes, 32 of whom competed for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, 14 for other countries, and one as a coach for the United States softball team. In all, Stanford athletes won 25 medals: For the 2012 London Olympics, 39 athletes were from Stanford and 26 represented Team USA. Stanford athletes won 27 medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games and 26 medals at the 2020 Tokyo games. Stanford does not compete at the varsity level in any events contested at the Winter Olympics. Stanford students and alums who have won Winter Olympic medals include John Coyle, Eileen Gu, Eric Heiden, Sami Jo Small, and Debi Thomas.

Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame

The Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame was established on December 21, 1954. Envisioned by Walt Gamage, sports editor of the now-defunct ''Palo Alto Times'', the first class of inductees consisted of 34 Stanford sports greats. New members are inducted annually and are recognized during halftime of a home Stanford football game. The Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame Room is located on the first floor of the Arrillaga Family Sports Center on the Stanford campus.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Stanford Cardinal , list = {{Pacific-12 Conference navbox {{Mountain Pacific Sports Federation navbox {{America East Conference navbox {{Bay Area Sports Sports in Stanford, California