Stanford Open – 2011 Preview

The Stanford Open
College Open, College Women’s
Saturday and Sunday February 26-27
Stevinson Polo Fields, Livingston, CA
Location, Directions and Travel Info

Who’s Playing:

Open – Score Reporter

Women’s – Score Reporter

Preview

With the Stanford Invite one weekend away, this weekend’s event will determine who fills in the final spots in both the Open and Women’s divisions of the Invite to compete against the nation’s top teams.

Fields and Weather

The Tourney takes place on the same polo fields as last year (Stevinson Polo Club). From my recollection, the fields are hard, feature thin grass and are amenable to bidding till the the sun comes up, and bruises and scrapes once it does. Located in farm country California, the fields are subject to quick changes in weather and are unshielded from wind.

Saturday weather looks to be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and possibly snow. Moderate winds with temperatures in the mid-40s. Sunday clear up a bit with mid-40 temperatures, no wind and partly cloudy skies.

Sponsors

Gear by Five Ultimate, Stanford Open Branded Jerseys and the usual amazing technicolor dream coat worthy colors of Hydro Shorts. Look for Skyd & Five’s own Adam Restad manning the tent, looking good in Five gear and hopefully a 10 gal. Stetson. (We’re pretty sure he gets paid for doing both.) Bonus points for anyone who chants “Tranholt, Tranholt, Tranholt,” in the Five tent.

Redbull, Muscle Milk, and Ocean Potion fill out the bill.

Women’s

Power pools L and M feature some heavy hitters in UC Davis, U Victoria, And last year’s DIII National Champs Pacific Lutheran Reign.

Victoria UVixens – Much like their open team, the UVixens women bring the Canadian specialties: tough physical defense and the ability to play better when things get heated.

Pacific Lutheran Reign – Back to win it all again, but without some of the key components of last years championship team, The Lady Reign have some solid handlers such as Kayla Griffith and a good bunch of returners from last year’s squad coached by Jaime “Idaho” Arambula (of Condors and Sockeye fame).

Open

With no clear power pools, open looks like a chance for some of the lesser known teams to shine.

Sonoma State Grapes of Wrath – A program on the rise. Three years ago they struggled to win in pool play at the Stanford invite, since then their program has progressed at high speed, adding depth and talent to a fun loving Grapes of Wrath team.

Cal State Long Beach Stalkers  – Firey and talented, CSLB surprised many by winning the Southwest Section last year, and should provide some great action. If they play in a similar manner to their club mashup team Pizza Hut Taco Bell, look for plenty of huge hucks and fast deeps to chase them down.

Utah Zion Curtain: Little known outside the NW, Utah has a strong set of handlers, Including Kipp and Eric who spent last club season playing for the very competitive Golden Spike out of Salt Lake. Last Year’s Regionals run may not have lead to the championship bracket on Day 2, but The Zion Curtain is certainly an exciting team to watch.

Whitman Sweets – In last year’s DIII Championship game Whitman lead at half against a nearly nationals attendee Carleton GOP. This year they look much more refined and firing on all cylinders. Lead by one of the best handlers in the business, Jermey Norden, and with the amazing talents of Jacob Janin, look for Whitman to make the semis, and maybe just win a bid to next week’s Invite.