Stanford Athletics would like to thank all of its fans for participating and making their voices heard in selecting their favorite athletes and moments of the 2011-12 athletic season.
A late surge in the polls Saturday and early Sunday vaulted wrestling's Nick Amuchastegui into the lead and by closing time, Amuchategui would be the fans' choice for 2011-12's Male Athlete of the Year. At the time of close, Amuchastegui carried 54.5 percent of the votes. Early leader Andrew Luck would be next with 34.3 percent.
This past season, the senior 174-pounder from Talent, Ore. ended his collegiate career going 24-1 and reaching the NCAA Championship Final in St. Louis. Although he fell short in the title match, Amuchastegui still put together one of the finest wrestling seasons and careers ever seen on The Farm.
He was unanimously voted the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year in 2012, becoming only the second Stanford wrestler to earn the honor. He captured the Pac-12 crown in the 174-lb. class, his second conference title, and for his career never finished lower than second at the conference tournament.
He concluded his collegiate career with a 118-19 overall record, marking the fourth-best win total in program history. Amuchastegui competed in four NCAA Championships, earning All-America status on three occasions, joining Tanner Gardner as Stanford's only three-time All-Americans.
Amuchastegui was also one of the top academics amongst his fellow student-athletes, twice being named CoSIDA's Men's At-Large Academic All-American of the Year (2011 and 2012). A mechanical engineering major, Amuchastegui is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-America Team selection and was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year this past April.
Nnemkadi Ogwumike, voted by the fans as Stanford's top female athlete for the second straight year, earned that honor with an even greater campaign as a senior.
In leading the Cardinal to a 35-2 record, a 12th straight Pac-12 title and fifth straight Final Four appearance, she averaged a school-record 22.5 points with 10.2 rebounds a game, becoming one of just five Stanford players to average a double-double for the season. Ogwumike scored a school-record 809 points on the year, and became one of just four Stanford players to accumulate both 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds during her career.
She ranks in Stanford's career top-five in field goals made (965 - first) and attempted (1,656 - second), points scored (2,491 - second), field-goal percentage (58.3 - second), rebounds (1,226 - third), scoring average (17.2 ppg - fourth), rebounding average (8.5 rpg - fourth) and free throws made (555 - second) and attempted (718 - first).
Ogwumike, a consensus national player of the year candidate, earned a boatload of honors for her performance, becoming only the third three-time WBCA All-American in school history. She also earned All-America honors from the Associated Press, USBWA and John R. Wooden Award. She was named the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner and captured her second Pac-12 Player of the Year honor and was named MVP of the Pac-12 Tournament and Fresno Regional.
Ogwumike captured 52.1 percent of the fan vote by Sunday night, nearly 35 points more than the runner-up, women's tennis' Nicole Gibbs, who got 17.4 percent of the vote.
In the Newcomer of the Year balloting Chioma Ubogagu of women's soccer made a late push, moving up the ranks and taking home the honor. Ubogagu would top the closest vote of the week, grabbing 24.1 percent of the votes and beating out diver Kristian Ipsen by a single vote while men's basketball's Chasson Randle and women's water polo's Kiley Neushul were each just three votes behind.
This past fall Ubogagu established herself immediately as a player to watch for the Cardinal. She scored 10 goals (second on the team) with 10 assists (third) for a total of 30 points, third-most on the squad, as the Cardinal claimed its first NCAA title.
Those numbers helped lead to her being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, to the Soccer America All-Freshman First Team, the NSCAA All-Pacific Region Second Team, the All-Pac-12 Second Team and All-Freshman Team, and the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team.
Ubogagu stepped right into the spotlight at the College Cup, scoring Stanford's first goal then assisting on the second just over two minutes later in the 3-0 semifinal win over Florida State. Two days later, the freshman was part of the sequence which led to the lone goal of Stanford's 1-0 title-clinching win over Duke, supplying a through ball to Camille Levin, who worked ahead and fed Teresa Noyola for the goal.
Stanford Football would take home the Game and Performance of the Year votes, both coming in the Cardinal's thrilling 56-48 triple-overtime win at USC on Oct. 30.
The game itself featured 948 combined yards of offense, 13 touchdowns and 104 points in Stanford's 56-48 triple-overtime victory.
What was just a 10-6 game at halftime exploded in the second half, as each team scored 14 points in the third quarter. In the fourth, tied at 27, USC's Nickell Robey picked off an Andrew Luck pass and took it down the sidelines and in to give the Trojans a 34-27 lead with 3:08 to play.
Luck, who captured the Performance of the Year with 40.2 percent of the vote, bounced back, immediately engineering a 76-yard drive capped by Stepfan Taylor's tying touchdown with 38 seconds left. For the game Luck would go 29-for-40 for 330 yards and three touchdowns passing, and ran for 56 yards and another score. Running back Stepfan Taylor rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Both teams scored in the first two overtimes, and, with the ball first in the third overtime, Taylor rushed for the go-ahead score and Luck capped it with a two-point conversion pass to Coby Fleener, accounting for the final points of Stanford's thrilling 56-48 win.
2011-12 Stanford Fan Choice Award Winners
Male Athlete of the Year: Nick Amuchastegui, Wrestling
Female Athlete of the Year: Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Women's Basketball
Newcomer of the Year: Chioma Ubogagu, Women's Soccer
Game of the Year: Football outlasts USC, 56-48 in three overtimes (Oct. 30, 2011)
Performance of the Year: Andrew Luck Rebounds To Lead Stanford Past USC, 56-48 In Three Overtimes (Oct. 30, 2011)
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